The drivers of social entrepreneurship: agency, context, compassion and opportunism
基于苏格兰中部12位社会创业者的生命故事叙事，研究发现社会创业不仅源于利他主义，还受商业模型吸引力、个人能动性和情境因素驱动，过程复杂且部分类似商业创业。
Purpose The paper refers to the drivers of social entrepreneurship and critically explores the notion that it is prompted by a personal mission to enable some social or ideologically motivated altruism. It refers to Shapero's Entrepreneurial Event Theory and the adaptation of it for social entrepreneurship in Mair and Noboa (2006) and develops these so that both agency and context may be considered. Design/methodology/approach Fieldwork comprised a qualitative sample of 12 life-story narratives of social entrepreneurs in Central Scotland. The location was chosen because of its reputation for support of social entrepreneurship, and the qualitative methodology allowed for a depth of inspection and analysis of complex and situational experiences. Findings Findings include observation of altruism but there are other drivers, including the appeal of the social entrepreneurship business model. Context emerges as a critical feature of social entrepreneurship too, including spurs for altruism and the human, financial and social capitals, skills and experiences of social entrepreneurs. Originality/value The paper finds that the social entrepreneurship process involves both agency and context and is complex, and for some, reflects a strategic approach similar to commercial entrepreneurship. The paper also proposes further adaptation to Entrepreneurial Event Theory to capture this complexity of the social entrepreneurship process.