Publication: Legal Framework for Social Enterprise: Lessons from a Comparative Study of Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States
Loading...
Published
2017-04-18
ISSN
Date
2017-04-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Social enterprises are emerging as a new area of public policy: several countries seek to stimulate private sector contribution to development outcomes, and social enterprises could be important players in that agenda. However, those seeking a middle ground between for-profit and non-profit sectors to enable social enterprise have found legal frameworks to be lacking. This has triggered a range of legal developments over the past ten years, with a number of countries seeking to implement appropriate legal frameworks that can support and stimulate the development of social enterprise. These legal frameworks can both define social enterprise as well as to structure it, through the creation of new legal forms and regulations. The objective of this study is to analyze various definitions and forms under which social enterprises operate in five countries and the implications for public policies. The study is based on literature review and a small number of interviews clustered around Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and United States, where social enterprise has attracted government`s interest. The study analyzes how the government operationalized its engagements with social enterprises. It takes a historical perspective to understand the legal forms available to, and adopted by, social enterprises, and the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Triponel, Anna; Agapitova, Natalia. 2017. Legal Framework for Social Enterprise: Lessons from a Comparative Study of Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26397 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Emerging Social Enterprise Ecosystems is East and South African Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-05)Across Sub-Saharan Africa millions of people remain excluded from critical, life-enhancing services, such as access to water, energy, sanitation, education, and health care. As a result, approximately 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, while life expectancy and literacy are at their lowest rates globally. Moreover, inequality of access to these basic services remains a challenge, especially for marginalized groups, such as women and the rural and urban poor. In this context, Social Enterprises (SEs) have emerged as a new type of development actor with the potential to help solve the service delivery gap. SEs are privately owned organizations,,either for-profit, non-profit, or a hybrid of the two, that use business methods to advance their social objectives. The first part of the report presents an overview of the current landscape for SEs in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The second part introduces the SE ecosystem and provides a diagnosis of current ecosystems across the seven countries. The report highlights cross-country findings based on research at three levels: the country level, service sector level, and specific service level (Figure 2). Seventeen studies focus on health, water and sanitation, education, and energy sectors at the country level, and five studies focus on specific services, such as maternity care and HIV prevention at the country level. The report targets development practitioners involved in policy design and implementation who are interested in new ways to address service delivery challenges. These specific examples of challenges and opportunities for SEs in Africa can highlight ways to increase the sustainability and scale of current and future SE business models.Publication Social Entrepreneurship for Inclusive Growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11)While its poverty rate has fallen slightly over the past two decades, the DRC remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The unaddressed demand for service delivery will require local private sector solutions to meet the needs of the poor, marginalized, and other underserved populations. Social enterprises (SEs) champion emerging private sector solutions to bring services to these populations, by switching from charity-based, donor-dependent organizations to revenue generating and sustainable enterprises. This report provides an overview of opportunities for, and constraints to, social entrepreneurship in the DRC and lays out a menu of options for strengthening social entrepreneurship through development programs.Publication The Legal and Regulatory Framework for Microfinance in Iraq(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07)A well-functioning and inclusive financial sector is critical for efficient resource allocation leading to increased productivity, greater investment, higher overall levels of economic growth, and lower inequality. This is particularly critical in Iraq, where years of political instability and violence have impeded the development of a robust private sector. Microfinance services in Iraq are still nascent and far from meeting their full potential. This diagnostic report aims to present the microfinance landscape in Iraq, its legal and regulatory framework, and potential policy improvements to enhance the operating environment. It aims to inform public and private sector stakeholders on the regulations and laws affecting the development and strategic direction of the microfinance sector. The policy recommendations presented are designed to address factors preventing greater growth and outreach, with the goal of promoting inclusive financial sector development in Iraq.Publication The Capacity Development Results Framework(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06)The Capacity Development Results Framework (CDRF or the Framework) is a powerful new approach to the design, implementation, monitoring, management, and evaluation of development programs. Originally conceived to address well-documented problems in the narrow field of capacity development, the Framework can be profitably applied to assess the feasibility and coherence of proposed development projects, to monitor projects during implementation (with a view to taking corrective action), or to assess the results, or even the design, of completed projects. The framework can also be used as a step-by-step guide to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of projects and programs designed to build capacity for development at a national or sub-national level. That is how it is illustrated here. We chose this approach because such a guide was sorely needed, and because it allowed us to illustrate the full set of tools and processes provided by the framework. The framework is compatible with a broad range of situations and approaches to change management. But in all cases key actors in the change process must be identified and offered the knowledge and tools that they need to produce change in the direction of the desired goals. Critical points in the change path must be identified. At each such point, new information and experience must be assessed to guide subsequent decisions. Building capacity, driving change, and achieving development goals will typically be iterative processes.Publication Supporting Womens Agro-Enterprises in Africa with ICT(Washington, DC, 2015-02)A new generation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is finding a small foothold among poor, small-scale farmers in developing countries. Even so, many barriers still prevent poor rural people from accessing, using, and benefiting from new ICT tools and platforms, and those barriers are arguably higher for rural women. The relationship between gender and agriculture has been studied intensively over the years, and many agricultural interventions now include gender as a crosscutting issue or mainstream gender throughout their operations. Studies of the relationship between gender and the use of ICTs in agriculture have started to appear only quite recently, however. The Africa Region of the World Bank views ICTs as potentially transformative technology for rural development and seeks to incorporate the use of ICTs throughout its portfolio of projects. The present study was designed to examine the feasibility of integrating ICTs into two large investment programs: the Irrigation Development and Support Project (IDSP) in Zambia and the Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Project (KAPAP). The specifi c goal was to examine how ICT-based interventions might be designed to strengthen women s participation in commodity value chains under the two projects.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28)Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.