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Social Entrepreneurship as a New Institutional Field: Institutional Barriers in the Algerian Context

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Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region

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Abstract

Despite the richness of the growing literature on social entrepreneurship, our understanding of the process of emergence and legitimation of social entrepreneurship remains limited. As is now usual in organization and management theories, emerging countries, especially African ones, are often excluded from reflections and analyses. In this vein, this chapter focuses on the emergence of social entrepreneurship as a new institutional field, focusing more particularly on the challenges it faces in a country such as Algeria, with turbulent and complex institutional dynamics. Building on the experience of the Algerian Center for Social Entrepreneurship in Algeria between 2013 and 2020, we posit that three interrelated institutional barriers have hindered the emergence of social entrepreneurship as a new field in Algeria: normative (social entrepreneurship is not a legitimate endeavor), regulative (social entrepreneurship at the center of institutional voids) and cultural-cognitive (social entrepreneurship as foreign to established mental schemes). Our chapter offers practical and theoretical implications for research on social entrepreneurship and nascent fields.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the USA, this legal status covers for-profit firms that have a strong social and/or environmental component in their activities. States are the key actors in regulating these firms. Maryland was the first to act in 2010. In 2020, about 30 states recognize the legal existence of social enterprises.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

    Sofiane Baba

  2. HEC Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Taïeb Hafsi

  3. The Algerian Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Algiers, Algeria

    Meriem Benslama

Authors
  1. Sofiane Baba
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  2. Taïeb Hafsi
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  3. Meriem Benslama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sofiane Baba .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Business, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon

    Nehme Azoury

  2. HEC Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Taïeb Hafsi

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Baba, S., Hafsi, T., Benslama, M. (2022). Social Entrepreneurship as a New Institutional Field: Institutional Barriers in the Algerian Context. In: Azoury, N., Hafsi, T. (eds) Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88447-5_11

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