Social enterprises (SEs) are hybrid organizations that simultaneously pursue financial and social goals, while addressing institutional voids. Despite the extensive cross-border activities of SEs, the state of research addressing such flows of funds, technology and personnel is undeveloped. In this introductory article, we discuss the unique aspects of SEs and explore how the international business literature can inform our understanding of their internationalization. We outline promising areas for future research related to the drivers of and the processes underlying SE internationalization as well as its consequences. With this as a background, we introduce the five articles in this Special Issue.

社会企业（SE）是混合组织，它们同时追求财务和社会目标，同时解决了制度空白。尽管SE开展了广泛的跨境活动，但针对此类资金，技术和人员流动的研究状态仍未开发。在这篇介绍性文章中，我们讨论了SE的独特方面，并探讨了国际商业文献如何能够帮助我们理解其国际化。我们概述了与SE国际化的驱动因素和过程以及其后果相关的未来研究的有希望的领域。在此背景下，我们介绍了本期特刊中的五篇文章。