A comparative overview of social enterprise ‘ecosystems’ in Scotland and England: an evolutionary perspective

ABSTRACT

Social enterprise has been identified as a culturally and socially constructed phenomenon; over recent years there has been increasing focus on how social enterprise ‘ecosystems’ differ across countries. There has been less focus on the differences in social enterprise ecosystems within countries, where regional differences in the cultural, political and social environment can lead to variations in the environment for support. Recent devolution within the United Kingdom has led to all four countries developing fairly diverse political and policy environments. This paper explores these differences through the lens of evolutionary theory which posits that within an ecosystem all organisms are a product of the evolution of that ecosystem and that socio-political and regulatory differences can lead to the rapid divergence of social enterprise ecosystems.

KEYWORDS:

• Social enterprise
• ecosystems
• social policy
• political devolution

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Richard Hazenberg is Principal Researcher and Research Leader within the Institute for Social Innovation and Impact at the University of Northampton. His research interests include social entrepreneurship, social impact measurement, social investment and public service mutuals.

Dr Meanu Bajwa-Patel is Senior Researcher within the Institute for Social Innovation and Impact at the University of Northampton. Her research interests include educational innovation and their social impact, especially in relation to special educational needs. She also has interests in gender studies and research methods.

Dr Michael J. Roy is Senior Lecturer in Social Business at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. An economic sociologist and public policy specialist, his research focuses on various aspects of social enterprise and the social economy both in the UK and internationally, but particularly on how community-led social enterprises can address social vulnerabilities and 'upstream' social determinants of health.

Dr Micaela Mazzei is a Research Fellow at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her research focuses on understanding the contextual determinants of social enterprise development and performance; understanding the dynamics of local (and regional) economies and the involvement of social economy organisations in the delivery of public services.

Dr Simone Baglioni is full professor of political science at Glasgow Caledonian University. His work focuses on issues of youth (un)employment, civil society, collective action and mobilizations, and social innovation. His most recent research projects deal with the effects of the economic crisis on transnational solidarity in Europe (http://transsol.eu) and on social enterprises and social innovation (http://www.fp7-efeseiis.eu).

ORCiD

Richard Hazenberg http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2178-9157

Meanu Bajwa-Patel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3490-875X

Michael J. Roy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1834-0826

Micaela Mazzei http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8442-4959

Simone Baglioni http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4500-8359