Social entrepreneurship as a new field of research

Abstract

The scientific conceptualization of social entrepreneurship began to form only in the 1990s. Some practical experience and theoretical materials on social entrepreneurship have already been accumulated in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In last years the rapid growth of publications on social entrepreneurship in leading international peer-reviewed journals demonstrates the growing interest for researching this field. However, social entrepreneurship, as well as areas of new research, cannot be shaped by insufficient legitimacy and theoretical boundaries and indefinite content. The need to develop social entrepreneurship theory, which is at the stage of formation, is an important task for the development of social entrepreneurship itself. Social entrepreneurship, as a socio-economic and organizational event, has become the focus of researchers, business representatives and the state in recent years. Social entrepreneurship is a form of economic activity aimed at solving the problems of a defined group of people who do not have access to vitally essential prosperity due to failed state programs or market failures. Social entrepreneurship is not a new phenomenon, but it has made unprecedented growth worldwide lately, including in Georgia. This is due to the fact that on the one hand there is an exacerbation of the whole complex of social problems, and on the other hand, the inability of society to solve these problems through traditional methods of market economy and state support. The article deals with identifying the conceptual aspects of social entrepreneurship, defining social entrepreneurship as a new field of research, its place and role in the socioeconomic system, and analyzing its formation and development features to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of social entrepreneurship. The development of research in the field of social entrepreneurship has shifted the focus of attention from the essential issues of the formation and functioning of this event to the operational and strategic issues of the formation of organizations involved in social entrepreneurship. Gradually, studies have emerged in which the study of social entrepreneurship, the subject of analysis, and the unit of research is considered the business model and the peculiarities of the formation of business models of social entrepreneurship are discussed. In order to increase the effectiveness of the functioning of the organization implementing social entrepreneurship and defined in its development theory conceptual clarity both in practical and theoretical terms requires understanding of the basic business models of social entrepreneurship and the institutional features of their formation. The article identifies the fundamental elements needed to build the concept of social entrepreneurship, discusses the key features of the author’s definition of social entrepreneurship, identifies the main motivations and sources for the formation of social entrepreneurship.