ABSTRACT

As more non-profits embrace social enterprise, it is important to examine the role social enterprise plays in society. Market failure is the prevailing economic theory explaining non-profits’ existence, and applies to social enterprise. However, market failure theory presents a contradiction: how can social enterprise activities address market failures if they use the market-based strategies that led to that failure? We resolve this contradiction by identifying two responses to market failure: market reallocation and market mending. We examine how these responses align with social enterprise and non-profit conceptions. We discuss implications for strategy, public policy, and research.

抽象的

随着越来越多的非营利组织拥护社会企业，重要的是要研究社会企业在社会中所扮演的角色。市场失灵是解释非营利组织存在的流行经济学理论，适用于社会企业。但是，市场失灵理论提出了一个矛盾：如果社会企业活动使用导致失灵的基于市场的策略，该如何解决市场失灵？通过确定对市场失败的两种应对措施，我们解决了这一矛盾：市场重新分配和市场修补。我们研究了这些回应如何与社会企业和非营利构想相吻合。我们讨论了对战略，公共政策和研究的影响。