The Essence of Social Entrepreneurship through a Georgian Lens: Social Entrepreneurs’ Perspectives
Iza Gigauria, Mirela Clementina Panaitb c✉, Simona Andreea Apostuc d, Lukman Raimie
- aSchool of Business, Computing and Social Sciences, Saint Andrew the First-Called Georgian University, Tbilisi 00179, Georgia
- bDepartment of Cybernetics, Economic Informatics, Finance and Accounting, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 100680 Ploiesti, Romania
- cInstitute of National Economy, 050771 Bucharest, Romania
- dDepartment of Statistics and Econometrics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010552 Bucharest, Romania
- eSchool of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tungku Link BE1410, Brunei
- ✉Corresponding author
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Abstract
The attention to the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has been especially enhanced during the current turbulent times, as social enterprises have a key role to play in solving social problems caused by the pandemic. Currently, social entrepreneurship is still an undeveloped area in Georgia, but it has the potential to contribute to the country’s economy and improve the social, ecological, and economic conditions of society. This paper analyses the concept in Georgia and explores social entrepreneurship from the social entrepreneurs’ perspective. A qualitative interview method was applied to collect the data for this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the seventeen Georgian social entrepreneurs from May–June 2021. The research reveals the drivers of social entrepreneurs and investigates the financial sources of social enterprises. It also discusses the practice of social entrepreneurship in terms of preventing and supportive factors while adopting the concept in transition economies, particularly in Georgia. The research demonstrated an urgent need for legislation to regulate the field of social entrepreneurship and formalize it.