Understanding the phenomenon of Chilean social enterprises under the lens of Kerlin's approach: contributions and limitations

Purpose: Contribute to the literature about the emergence of social enterprises in .the world through the case of Chile by proposing the ABC as a new inclusive approach of organizational models of social enterprises that... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: Contribute to the literature about the emergence of social enterprises in .the world through the case of Chile by proposing the ABC as a new inclusive approach of organizational models of social enterprises that complement Kerlin’s conceptual framework.
Design/methodology/approach: This work included a literature review of the theoretical frameworks developed by Kerlin (2013) and Salamon and Solokowski (2010), and field work that included 20 in-depth interviews to members of the Chilean social enterprise community and three expert group discussions about the specific dynamics of Chilean social enterprises.
Findings: The emergent phenomenon of social enterprise in Chile has two distinctive features that appear to indicate that Kerlin’s conceptual framework does not fully capture how social enterprise is currently conceptualized in Chile: the long-term dynamics of convergence and (re-)emergence of different organizational models of social enterprises, and the participation and evolution of different organizational models of social enterprise over the course of history and their lasting impact.
Research limitations/implications: The lack of data is the main limitation of this research.
Practical implications: Grasp the emergent phenomenon of social enterprises in Chile at an early stage of development with an inclusive approach that consider the diversity of organizational models of social enterprises and the profound institutional changes happening in Chile during the last decades.
Originality/value: The deep understanding of the Chilean institutional context for the development of social enterprises.
Keywords: Social enterprises, Chile, traditional sectors of the economy, institutional history, ABC approach, civil society.
Article Classification: Research paper