Interest in social innovations (SIs) from both the academic and the policy side is growing. Nonetheless, we still know little about which sustainable development goals (SDGs) SIs already address. Furthermore, only little is known about who the innovators developing and implementing SIs are. In this paper, we aim to bring more clarity and structure to the field of SIs. Firstly, a systematic literature review was conducted, before a content analysis was used to analyze the definitions used with regard to similarities. Secondly, all case studies described in the reviewed articles were then further systematically analyzed in order to identify the social or environmental problems addressed and the innovators involved. For the purpose of classifying the diverse types of problems, we used the globally known and broadly accepted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Results showed that most SI case studies deal with an improvement of health and well-being. Furthermore, our study illustrates that there is a pronounced difference in the focus of SIs between developing and developed countries. Concerning the innovators, our results indicate that five types of innovators are fundamentally involved in developing and implementing SIs: social entrepreneurs, NGOs and non-profits, public institutions, civil society, firms, and social enterprises. Our definition analysis as well as the identification and classification of the innovators and addressed social needs bring much-needed clarity and structure to the field. However, our systematic review shows that SI is still in its infancy and it will be interesting to see where the field will head.

Social innovations (SIs) contribute to solving or at least mitigating many of the most pressing grand challenges. Similar to profit-oriented innovations, which are mainly developed by existing organizations and profit-oriented entrepreneurs, SIs are mainly developed and implemented by existing organizations and individual actors - social innovators. While much of the existing literature examines the needs of profit-oriented entrepreneurs and suggests entrepreneurial ecosystems as an adequate approach for satisfying profit-oriented entrepreneurs’ needs, little is known about the emerging needs of social innovators. By conducting an in-depth qualitative analysis of an exemplary territorial context based on 28 semistructured interviews and secondary data collection, this exploratory study aims to shed light on the emerging needs of social innovators. Furthermore, through an analysis of the identified needs, the study explores similarities and differences between the social innovation ecosystem and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Thus, Isenberg’s entrepreneurial ecosystem model is leveraged for the development of a novel social innovation ecosystem model.

While research on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) has consolidated over the last decade, one question remains unanswered: how can the sustainability orientation of EE actors facilitate the intensity and growth orientation of entrepreneurship in the ecosystem? Entrepreneurship activity relies on the sustainability orientation of the ecosystem, which is lacking in most developing countries where reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the most pressing concern. Using primary data on 1789 EE actors from 17 cities in East and South-East Europe and econometric analysis techniques, we investigate the relationship between the sustainability orientation of EE actors and EE outcomes. We find that this relationship is conditional on the country’s institutional quality and is consistent for a variety of EE outcomes. Practical implications for regional policymakers and entrepreneurs are developed.

Entrepreneurship makes important contributions to both regional and national economies; however, entrepreneurship rates vary significantly across and within regions. We apply the communication accommodation theory lens to examine the role that bilingualism plays in regional entrepreneurship. We use aggregated firm and district level longitudinal data on eight northeastern districts in the region of South Tyrol (Italy) during 2000–2015 and demonstrate positive direct effect of bilingualism on entrepreneurship activity. The results can be generalizable to other European multicultural regions.