Social Economy and Innovation
Social economy and social innovation contribute to create more inclusive, creative and sustainable societies and economies. How? By providing innovative solutions to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of individuals, communities and places while addressing socio-economic and environmental challenges, including those emerging with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Promoting Social Economy Ecosystems
In 2020, the OECD launched the Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership Instrument, that will cover more than 30 countries over a period of three years.
AREAS OF WORK
Social Economy
Social economy organisations traditionally refer to the set of associations, cooperatives, mutual organisations, and foundations whose activity is driven by values of solidarity, the primacy of people over capital, and democratic and participative governance.
Social Entrepreneurship & Social Enterprises
Social entrepreneurship is the process through which specific types of actors – the “social entrepreneurs” – create and develop organisations that may be either social enterprises or other types of organisations.
Social Innovation
Social innovation refers to the design and implementation of new solutions that imply conceptual, process, product, or organisational change, which ultimately aim to improve the welfare and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Assess your social entrepreneurship ecosystem
The interactive Webtool on Social Entrepreneurship allows you to assess whether current policies and programmes enable and support social enterprises to start -up and scale -up. The assessment includes seven modules with thought-provoking question statements, covering different action areas within the social entrepreneurship ecosystem.
All Publications
*The publications marked with an asterisk have been produced with the financial support of the European Union.
Milestone publications
The publications provide foundational knowledge on the historical development of the field of non-profit sector, the social economy and social entrepreneurship. The research notably highlights their contribution to local development and examines the critical areas where further support is needed to unlock the potential of these organisations. Policy recommendations are provided for national and local policy makers along with a set of international best practices.
- The changing boundaries of social enterprises (2009)
- The Social Economy - Building inclusive economies (2007)
- The non-profit sector in a changing economy (2003)
- Reconciling Economy and Society: Towards a Plural Economy (1996)
- Social enterprises (1999)
In-depth policy reviews
Social Entrepreneurship in Europe: In-depth country reviews
The reviews aim to help policy makers at national, regional and local levels to improve the ecosystems for social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development. They analyse the policy framework for social entrepreneurship and social enterprises and develop tailored and actionable policy recommendations.
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development in Slovenia. In-depth policy review (forthcoming 2021)
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development in Brandenburg, Germany. In-depth policy review (forthcoming 2020)*
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development in Estonia. In-depth policy review (2020)*
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development in the Netherlands. In-depth policy review (2019)*
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development in Lithuania. In-depth policy review (2019)*
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise creation. Unlocking the potential of social enterprises in Czech Republic (2016)*
- Boosting social entrepreneurship and social enterprise creation. Unlocking the potential of social enterprises in Croatia (2016)*
- Boosting Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Creation in the Republic of Serbia (2013)
- L’entrepreneuriat social en France: Réflexions et bonnes pratiques (2013)
In-depth reviews on social economy
A series of policy reviews examines the policies of selected countries and regions to support the social economy, and provides tailored recommendations to promote and enhance the contribution of these organisations to job creation and social inclusion at the local level.
- Improving social inclusion at the local level through the social economy - Synthesis report (2014)
- Improving social inclusion at the local level through the social economy – designing an enabling policy framework (2014)
- L'économie sociale au service de l'inclusion au niveau local - Rapport sur deux régions de France : Alsace et Provence – Alpes – Côte d'Azur (2010)
- Improving social inclusion at the local level through the social economy: report for Korea (2010)*
- Improving social inclusion at the local level through the social economy: report for Slovenia (2010)
- Improving social inclusion at the local level through the social economy: report for Poland (2009)
Policy briefs
A series of policy briefs examines issues and policies related to social entrepreneurship, such as social impact measurement and scaling up. The main goal of these briefs is to provide concrete examples of successful and tailored policies and practices that can provide inspiration for future policy design.
- Policy Brief on the Social & Circular economies: Fostering Synergies for a Green and Inclusive transition (forthcoming 2021)
- Policy Brief on Scaling the Impact of Social Enterprises (2016)*
- Policy Brief on Social impact measurement for social enterprises (2015)*
- Policy Brief on Social Entrepreneurship (2013)*
Compendium
This compendium derives policy lessons for boosting social enterprises from the analysis of 20 initiatives in several EU member-countries, covering a range of policy areas from legal frameworks, finance, market access, and support structures, to education and skills.
Working papers
The Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on topics ranging from social innovation, social entrepreneurship, social economy organisations, and social enterprises.
- Enhancing Social Inclusion and Local Development through Social Vouchers (forthcoming)
- Social Economy and the COVID-19 crisis: current and future roles (2020)
- Regional strategies for the social economy: examples from France, Spain, Sweden and Poland (2020)*
- Understanding Social Impact Bonds (2016)
- Social Impact Bonds: State of Play and Lessons Learnt (2016)*
- Entrepreneurial activities in Europe – Social entrepreneurship (2013)*
Workshop highlights
International guides
The Global Action funded by the European Union to “Promote Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems” in more than 30 countries in 2020-2022 will lead to the publication of two international guides.
- Legal frameworks for the SSE (forthcoming)
- Social impact measurement for the SSE (forthcoming)
- Weaving together Policies for Social Inclusion in Ireland (2016)
- Job creation through the social economy and social entrepreneurship (2013)*
Other
Capacity building & Peer learning
Social entrepreneurship policy toolkit
Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool
This OECD/EC online policy tool aims to help policy makers to design, implement and assess strategies, policies and programmes to boost social entrepreneurship and social enterprise development through a self-assessment, dedicated guidance material and good practices examples. For more information, click here.
- Ambassador’s Network
The Ambassadors Network was launched in 2020 to raise awareness about the Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool among key inclusive and social entrepreneurship policy stakeholders. Ambassadors are building a community of users across the EU with the aim of increasing the use of the tool in the policy development process and fostering the development of good practices in inclusive and social entrepreneurship policy in all EU Member States.
Capacity building seminars and workshops
Seminars are held for policy makers and relevant stakeholders to facilitate mutual learning and build capacity in order to assess their ecosystem for social innovation, social entrepreneurship and social economy and reflect on the best policy approaches to support the organisations in these fields to develop. If you are interested in a workshop, please contact socialeconomyandinnovation@oecd.org
Examples of workshops
- Boosting the Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Luxembourg – Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool Workshop (Luxembourg 2019)
- Boosting Social Entrepreneurial Skills, LEED Capacity Building Seminar “Designing Strong Local Strategies for Better Jobs and Skills” (Venice 2017)
Peer-learning partnerships
The Global Action, funded by the European Union to “Promote Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems” in more than 30 countries in 2020-2022 will lead to peer-learning partnerships. These will be developed among countries to exchange knowledge and experiences on the social and solidarity economy (SSE) and social entrepreneurship.
- To know more about the call for tenders and to apply, please follow the guidance provided here.
Past Events
Here you will find an overview of all the past and upcoming events.