Abstract
The paper, based on an update of a postgraduate thesis, aims to explore social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in Southeastern Europe, based on a comparative analysis of the cases of Croatia, Serbia and Greece.
By examining legal frameworks, regulations, contribution to social inclusion overcoming the current economic crisis, as well as the transition to different models of integrating social entrepreneurship in the wider economy and society, the thesis attempts to identify the stages of development, similarities, differences and challenges of the emerging sector.
Keywords
- Social entrepreneurship
- Social enterprise
- Social economy
- Transition
- Economy
Introduction
This paper, an updated version of my postgraduate thesis, aims to explore social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in Southeastern Europe, based on a comparative analysis of the cases of Croatia, Serbia and Greece.
During the last fifteen years, there is growing acknowledgement of social entrepreneurship, and social enterprises in particular, the European Commission has emphasized on the importance of the sector through policy recommendations and dedicated programmes which are not only influencing the developments in European Union member states, but also in accession candidate countries, as well as outside the EU.
Besides the analysis and comparison of the legal and institutional frameworks, a special focus is how international, European and national actors are shaping the development of Social Entrepreneurship in Croatia, Greece and Serbia. The thesis attempts to identify the stages of development, similarities, differences and challenges of the emerging sector.
In order to focus, the working hypothesis of the research is the following: The development of Social Entrepreneurship in Southeastern Europe, comparing the cases of Croatia, Serbia and Greece is a result of the influence of International and European actors in region.
The paper utilizes a set of twenty-nine semi-structured interviews conducted face-to-face (conducted in Athens, Greece), over phone and Skype (Athens, Belgrade, Cakovec, Karditsa, Thessaloniki, Trento, Vienna, Zagreb), and written (…)
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