The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the social enterprise concept at an international level. It provides a comprehensive overview of the existing literature in this subject area and focuses on the legal implementation of social enterprises.
The paper is an analytic review, building on previous work. Conclusions are on how the social enterprise concept has been legally implemented in a number of representative European countries.
The lack of a common understanding of social enterprise should not be regarded as a limitation as such debate encourages a rethinking of the theoretical definition of enterprise and its legal structure. The legal recognition of social enterprise contributes to conceptual clarification in the countries concerned.
This is a conceptual discussion paper, which stimulates further research on the most interesting mechanisms and consistent models of social enterprise that are developing at an international level.
The paper synthesises existing conceptual studies on social enterprise. It contributes to enrich the current debate on social enterprise and aids in focusing future research.
