Rural social entrepreneurship: The role of social capital within and across institutional levels

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to develop a more nuanced and multilevel understanding of the social network arena in which the rural social entrepreneur operates. We introduce and empirically assess a conceptual framework for systematic investigation of rural social entrepreneurship that is informed by both social capital theory and place-based entrepreneurship literature and also suggest a methodology. We argue that this perspective can offer valuable insights into the still under-researched interplay between rural social entrepreneurs and their institutional environment. A key insight from our analysis refers to the dialectic of horizontal and vertical networking strategies typical of rural social entrepreneurs and their business model. The paper informs researchers active at the intersection of social entrepreneurship and rural development and equips them for their future studies with a consistent and empirically supported theoretical and methodological approach.

Social Innovation to Sustain Rural Communities: Overcoming Institutional Challenges in Serbia

“…The literature on institutional voids already emphasises these kind of deficiencies, which "occur when specialised intermediaries are absent" [50] (p. 184). Social enterprises or civil society organisations which advocate improved working conditions for social entrepreneurship and innovation may take over this role in the future [32]. The SIPRU unit and the KoRSE coalition could provide practical assistance to the government via their activities in support of social innovators.…”

“…Such a multi-stakeholder perspective emphasises the importance of links between civil, public and private sector actors and the reinvention of the traditional roles of actors, which is seen to be crucial for rural social innovation processes [8,31]. Studies that explore how social capital stimulates social innovations and entrepreneurship in rural areas show that the complex interplay of different forms of social capital is important for developing socially innovative initiatives [32][33][34][35]. Lang and Fink [32] emphasise the complexity of the intermediary role of social entrepreneurs, linking local communities to powerful regime actors in multilevel network arenas within rural contexts.…”

“…Studies that explore how social capital stimulates social innovations and entrepreneurship in rural areas show that the complex interplay of different forms of social capital is important for developing socially innovative initiatives [32][33][34][35]. Lang and Fink [32] emphasise the complexity of the intermediary role of social entrepreneurs, linking local communities to powerful regime actors in multilevel network arenas within rural contexts. This also shows that social innovations are related to the much broader and dynamic political-economic context.…”

Exploring the terrain of social entrepreneurship: new directions, paths less travelled

“…Extant studies have shown that SE can play an important role in rural development and catalysing solutions to socio-economic challenges in sparsely populated remote areas (Farmer et al 2008;Steiner and Teasdale 2017; see also Chapter 10 by Eversole and Duniam). (Some) rural areas may have particular attributes (dense networks of trust and social capital) which lend themselves to SE (Lang and Fink 2018). Environmental sustainability, food insecurity in rural areas and vulnerability of smallholder farmers, agriurban and alternative food initiatives and food supply chain are all related issues that are being increasing tackled in the social economy and by social enterprises and offer fruitful areas for investigation (see Chapter 9 by Doherty and Kittipanya-ngam).…”

O desenvolvimento de ações sócio-produtivas em associações de agricultura familiar na região amazônica

“…O empreendedorismo é associado ao início de um novo negócio (LANG;FINK, 2018), no entanto, o conceito se ampliou e criou outras vertentes, como o empreendedorismo social (DWIVEDI; WEERAWARDENA, 2018). Trata-se de um campo que visa compreender o negócio e o mercado não apenas com a perspectiva do lucro, mas com o potencial de promover a redução das desigualdades sociais (CAMPELLI et al, 2011).…”