Title: A profile of social enterprise in Brazil based on theoretical differences from and similarities with US, European, and emerging country perspectives

Authors: Iraci De Souza João; Alexandre Bevilacqua Leoneti; Heitor Bassi Dos Santos; Simone Vasconcelos Ribeiro Galina

Addresses: Institute of Science and Technology (ICT), 1201, Cesare Mansueto Giulio Lattes (av), 12247-014, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil ' Department of Business, School of Economics, Business Administration and Accounting, 3900, Bandeirantes (av) 14040-905, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Department of Business, School of Economics, Business Administration and Accounting, 3900, Bandeirantes (av) 14040-905, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ' Department of Business, School of Economics, Business Administration and Accounting, 3900, Bandeirantes (av) 14040-905, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Abstract: The topic of social enterprise (SE) has gained much attention in academic and business discussions, but knowledge concerning SE is still incipient in Brazil. Our objective is to identify the profile of and to verify which of the three SE perspectives Brazilian SE resembles. In total, 730 social organisations were identified in Brazil through the available public data, from which 84 SEs were randomly selected for descriptive statistics collection and analysis using the binomial hypotheses test. The profile adopted in Brazil is unique, with few similarities with the US perspective. The Brazilian SEs has diversified operations, is legally known as companies and has up to ten employees on average. Our work provides a profile of Brazilian SEs, filling a gap in the literature. It promotes a reflection on the capacity of the emerging country perspective to reflect the reality of the SEs located in developing countries.

Keywords: social business; social enterprise; inclusive business; Brazilian context; portrayal; developing countries; profile; Brazil; US perspective; European perspective; emerging country perspective.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2018.091513

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2018 Vol.20 No.3, pp.394 - 415

Received: 11 Jan 2017
Accepted: 11 Jan 2017
Published online: 04 May 2018 *

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