Sheltered Employment Centres: Sustainability and Social Value

Abstract

Sheltered employment centres are social enterprises where at least 70% of their workers have disabilities. They are a way of helping people with disabilities to work in good working conditions and of allowing disadvantaged people to live a full life. However, some people criticise these businesses for being ghettos where public subsidies are used inefficiently. Our paper aims to test if this criticism is valid by analysing whether these companies provide social and economic value to society in return for public funding and are also economically sustainable over time. Using a sample of 997 Spanish sheltered employment centres, a descriptive analysis of the main variables has been carried out. Additionally, the results of a PART algorithm show the relationship between these companies and economic sustainability. Our findings corroborate that these firms are economically sustainable and, at the same time, socially sustainable. These results highlight the great work that such companies perform for society and the country’s economy.

Does the intensity of use of social media influence the economic sustainability of the university?

“…Looking at economic sustainability separately, it refers to maintaining and protecting scarce natural resources, taking into account and ensuring positive social and environmental outcomes (Cadil et al, 2018 ). If economic sustainability is carried out in the right way, it will guarantee a responsible return on resources in the long term (Segovia-Vargas et al, 2021 ). Therefore, economic sustainability must have a circular effect that will strengthen the economy and society; that is why companies must focus on renewable, reusable and recyclable actions and practices, among others (Rai et al, 2021 ).…”

“…But what is the relationship between the intensity of social media use by the university students and economic sustainability? According to the study by Segovia-Vargas et al ( 2021 ), economic sustainability ensures economic balance and guarantees long-term income for all. Therefore, if the intensity of social media use is done for work or to generate profits and not for addiction, as in some cases (Latif et al, 2019 ), there may be a positive relationship between these two variables.…”

“…A study elaborated by Murphy ( 2012 ) has highlighted the lack of academic studies on the relationship between social sustainability and environmental sustainability. Although, it is worth noting the abundant literature on sustainability in general (Alshehhi et al, 2018 ; Liao et al, 2020 ; Sardianou et al, 2021 ), where the importance of sustainability for private or public institutions for the proper development of a country or individuals is studied (Amaral et al, 2020 ; Qorri et al, 2018 ; Sardianou et al, 2021 ; Segovia-Vargas et al, 2021 ). According to Purvis et al ( 2019 ), three different possible relationships can be between social and environmental sustainability.…”

“…Sustainability is becoming increasingly important as it is seen as an essential part of our lives (Segovia-Vargas et al, 2021 ). The three dimensions of sustainability (i.e.…”

Feasibility Study of Mernek Milik Kita Program (MERLITA) using Social Return on Investment (SROI) Method

“…The SROI framework can monetize the social impacts and further consider the appropriate improvement for the case of sustainability (Davies et al, 2020). However, this sophisticated approach needs more data to evaluate the program's sustainability (Segovia-vargas et al, 2021). In response to the research background, this research was used to evaluate the social innovation program rarely found in the scientific paper, especially in the Indonesian case.…”