Title: Social innovation in the Hungarian business sphere

Authors: Krisztina Szegedi; Gyula Fülöp; Ádám Bereczk

Addresses: Institute of Business Economics, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary ' Institute of Business Economics, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary ' Institute of Business Economics, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary

Abstract: The development of society in various ways is central to social innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR involves deliberate acts of companies, and can lead to social innovation either in themselves or through cooperation with other social stakeholders. The aims of this study are: (1) to describe the concepts of corporate social innovation and CSR, focusing on the relationship between them, and to introduce the features of social innovation in Hungary and (2) to use quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate how integration of the business sector and a broad layer of society can promote social innovation in a disadvantaged region. The empirical survey indicates that social innovation is needed for economic development of a region, since such innovations are capable of helping the business activity recover in disadvantaged areas.

Keywords: social innovation; CSR; corporate social responsibility; social enterprises; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; Hungary; economic development; regional development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2016.081643

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2016 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.261 - 277

Received: 28 Jan 2016
Accepted: 29 Jun 2016

Published online: 18 Jan 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article