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“The Most Supportive Environment in the World”? Tracing the Development of an Institutional ‘Ecosystem’ for Social Enterprise

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Abstract

While numerous accounts of policy frameworks associated with country-level support for social enterprise activity exist, explanations for when, why and how policy interventions in support of social enterprise have been adopted have been, to date, much more thin on the ground. This paper aims to contribute to addressing this perceived gap by presenting the case of Scotland, recently hailed by First Minister Alex Salmond as “the most supportive environment in the world for social enterprise”. Historical Institutionalism is used to explain how such a ‘supportive environment’ might have come about and, looking at, in turn, when, why and how the conditions for social enterprise in Scotland have developed, we attempt to contribute to the ongoing international debate concerning the importance of the policy environment to fostering the conditions for social enterprise activity not only to emerge, but also to thrive.

Résumé

Bien qu’il existe de nombreux exemples de lignes de conduite relatives au soutien à l’échelon national de l’activité des entreprises sociales, sur le terrain, il est beaucoup plus difficile d’expliquer quand, comment et pourquoi sont intervenus ces politiques dans le soutien d’entreprises sociales. L’objectif du présent article est de contribuer à combler cet écart de perception en présentant le cas de l’Écosse, récemment saluée par le Premier ministre Alex Salmond comme « l’environnement le plus favorable du monde pour l’entreprise sociale ». Nous faisons appel à l’institutionnalisme historique pour expliquer le développement d’un tel « environnement favorable », et pour examiner quand, comment et pourquoi ces conditions ont émergé en Écosse. Nous tentons de contribuer au débat international en cours à propos de l’importance de l’environnement politique dans la création des conditions pour que l’activité des entreprises sociales non seulement émerge, mais prospère.

Zusammenfassung

Während es zahlreiche Ausführungen zu politischen Rahmenbedingungen, die in Verbindung mit einer landesweiten Unterstützung der Aktivitäten von Sozialunternehmen stehen, gibt, liegen Erklärungen zu den Zeitpunkten, Gründen und Arten der Durchführungen politischer Interventionen zur Unterstützung von Sozialunternehmen bislang in nur geringer Zahl vor. Diese Abhandlung möchte einen Beitrag hinsichtlich dieser wahrgenommenen Lücke leisten und präsentiert den Fall Schottland, das der schottische Ministerpräsident Alex Salmond kürzlich als „das Umfeld mit der weltweit größten Unterstützung für Sozialunternehmen“ pries. Man bedient sich des historischen Institutionalismus zur Erklärung, wie ein derartig „unterstützendes Umfeld“ möglicherweise entstanden ist. Im Gegenzug prüfen wir, wann, warum und wie sich die Bedingungen für Sozialunternehmen in Schottland entwickelt haben, und leisten so einen Beitrag zu der anhaltenden internationalen Debatte über die Bedeutung des politischen Umfelds zur Förderung der Bedingungen für Sozialunternehmen in einer Weise, dass deren Tätigkeiten nicht nur entwickelt werden, sondern auch erfolgreich sein können.

Resumen

Aunque existen numerosas historias de marcos políticos asociados al apoyo a nivel de país de la actividad de la empresa social, las explicaciones sobre cuándo, por qué y cómo han sido adoptadas las intervenciones políticas en apoyo de la empresa social, han sido, hasta la fecha, mucho más escasas sobre el terreno. El presente documento tiene como objetivo contribuir a abordar esta brecha percibida mediante la presentación del caso de Escocia, recientemente saludada por el Primer Ministro Alex Salmond como “el entorno más cooperativo en el mundo de la empresa social.” El Institucionalismo Histórico se utiliza para explicar cómo podría haber ocurrido dicho “entorno cooperativo” y, mirando, a su vez, cuándo, por qué y cómo han surgido las condiciones de la empresa social en Escocia, tratamos de contribuir al debate internacional en curso relativo a la importancia del entorno político para fomentar las condiciones de la actividad de la empresa social no sólo para que surja, sino para que se desarrolle.

要約

关于国家支持社会企业活动的政策框架,已有大量的阐释。但是旨在支持社会企业的政策干预又是在何种情况下被采纳的呢,为什么会被采纳呢,以及如何被采纳的呢?迄今为止,关于这些方面的解释则较为薄弱。本文通过对苏格兰的案例进行介绍,试图为填补这些认知差距聊尽绵薄之力。而最近,苏格兰首辅大臣Alex Salmond赞誉自己的辖区“为社会企业提供了世界上最佳的支持性环境”。我们从历史制度主义(Historical Institutionalism)的角度解释这种“支持性环境”是如何产生的,然后,再解释在苏格兰,社会企业的条件是在何时、为什么会、如何出现的。目前,国际上关于政策环境在社会企业活动的出现与盛行中重要性的辩论仍在进行中,本文试图为此辩论贡献一些自己的观点。

ملخص

في حين وجود حسابات عديدة من إطارات السياسات المرتبطة بالدعم على مستوى - البلد لنشاط المشاريع الإجتماعية، تم إعتماد تفسيرات لمتى ٬ لماذا وكيف التدخلات السياسية تدعم المشاريع الإجتماعية ، حتى الآن، يوجد أكثر من ذلك بكثير لم ينتبه إليه- على أرض الواقع. يهدف هذا البحث إلى المساهمة في سد هذه الفجوة من خلال تقديم تصور حالة أسكتلندا، وتم الإشادة مؤخرا˝ من قبل الوزير الأول أليكس(Alex Salmond) “بأنها البيئة الأكثر تأييد في العالم لمؤسسات إجتماعية.” تم إستخدام نهج دراسة السياسة التي تعتمد على مؤسسات الحكومة التاريخية لشرح كيف يمكن أن تتحقق هذه “البيئة الداعمة “٬ وتبحث في، بدورها، متى ولماذا وكيف ظهرت الشروط للمشاريع الإجتماعية في أسكتلندا، نحن نحاول المساهمة في النقاش الدولي الجاري بشأن أهمية بيئة السياسات لتعزيز الظروف لنشاط المشاريع الإجتماعية ليس فقط في الظهور، لكن لتزدهر.

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Notes

  1. James Keir Hardie, a Scottish socialist and labour leader was elected as the first member of the Independent Labour Party to the UK Parliament in 1892, and became the UK Labour Party’s first leader in 1906.

  2. When the Scottish Nationalist Party came to power in 2007 the Scottish Executive was renamed the Scottish Government.

  3. www.unity-enterprise.com.

  4. www.socialenterprisescotland.org.uk.

  5. www.senscot.net.

  6. www.dtascot.org.uk.

  7. www.cbs-network.org.uk.

  8. www.ceis.org.uk.

  9. www.scottish-enterprise.com/microsites/co-operative-development-scotland.aspx.

  10. www.theacademy-ssea.org/.

  11. www.the-sse.org/schools/6/scotland.

  12. www.scottishcu.org/.

  13. www.sfha.co.uk/.

  14. Usually managed by women in a local community and is entirely based on trust. Members agree to meet at regular times where a small amount is paid into a fund. When all members have contributed, a draw is made or turns taken to allow fair allocation of the fund to a member. The common pot thus allows a normally unaffordable item to be purchased.

  15. The urban Schulze-Delitzsch credit co-operative and rural Raiffeisen credit co-operative were established in nineteenth century Germany to meet the needs of those who had been hitherto underserved and disregarded by the traditional financial institutions of the time (see Vittas 1995; Guinnane 1994; Seibel 2003).

  16. www.glasgowcu.com/.

  17. The fourth CDFI in Scotland is Scotcash, www.scotcash.net/, a Community Interest Company (CIC) whose principal product is personal loans.

  18. www.socialinvestmentscotland.com/.

  19. www.cafonline.org/charity-finance--fundraising/banking-and-investments/loans-and-capital.aspx.

  20. www.dsl-businessfinance.co.uk/content/social_enterprises/.

  21. Big Society Capital, billed as the UK’s social investment bank, seeks to harness markets to access sources of capital which will be used to solve societal and social problems (Cohen 2012).

  22. Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) involve a multi-stakeholder arrangement between the public sector, the Government and investors where investors are offered returns (paid back by the Government) if their investment makes improvements (to a pre-agreed level) to the social outcomes of a service provider (Social Finance 2012).

  23. www.www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/en/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

    Michael J. Roy, Neil McHugh, Leslie Huckfield, Alan Kay & Cam Donaldson

  2. Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

    Michael J. Roy

  3. SENSCOT, Edinburgh, UK

    Leslie Huckfield

  4. Social Enterprise Academy/Community Business Network for Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

    Alan Kay

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  1. Michael J. Roy
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  2. Neil McHugh
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  3. Leslie Huckfield
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  4. Alan Kay
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  5. Cam Donaldson
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Correspondence to Michael J. Roy.

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Roy, M.J., McHugh, N., Huckfield, L. et al. “The Most Supportive Environment in the World”? Tracing the Development of an Institutional ‘Ecosystem’ for Social Enterprise. Voluntas 26, 777–800 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9459-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9459-9

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