Work

Understanding Opportunities in Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Realist Abstraction

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: This article extends social entrepreneurship (SE) research by drawing upon a critical realist perspective to analyse dynamic structure/agency relations in SE opportunity emergence, illustrated by empirical evidence. Our findings demonstrate an agential aspect (opportunity actualisation following a path-dependent seeding-growing-shaping process) and a structural aspect (institutional, cognitive and embedded structures necessary for SE opportunity emergence) related to SE opportunities. These structures provide three boundary conditions for SE agency: institutional discrimination, an SE belief system and social feasibility. Within this article, we develop a novel theoretical framework to analyse SE opportunities plus, an applicable tool to advance related empirical research.

Source: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

DOI: 10.1177/1042258719879633

Authors: Xiaoti Hu, Susan Marlow, Angelika Zimmermann, Lee Martin, Regina Frank

Institutions: University of Portsmouth, University of Birmingham, Loughborough University, University of Warwick, De Montfort University

Language: English

Topic: Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences

Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2980635804

FWCI: 10.1

Cites: 90

Cited by: 61

Related to: 10