Does the Social Enterprise Ecosystem Facilitate the Growth of Social Enterprises? An Extended Case Study of Taiwan, China

Ying Huang, Caiyun Xu — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Social enterprise (SE) ecosystems are a central concept in understanding the growth of SEs, yet existing research still needs to discuss the attributes of the ecosystems and their actual impacts on SEs. Based on an extended case study, this paper explores the actual impact of ecosystems on SEs in Taiwan, China. It is found that the SE ecosystem is not a dichotomous variable of “yes-no”, but of being “strong” or “weak”. Taiwan’s SE ecosystem has supportive conditions for SEs, such as favorable public policies, research institutes, and certification of SEs. However, due to deviations in implementing public policies and the lack of cross-sectoral cooperation between the government and other actors, Taiwan’s SE ecosystem is functionally “weak”. That is, the ecosystem needs to play a sufficient role in constructing the identity of SEs, providing legitimacy support, and linking resources. Under these circumstances, while maintaining the stability of their mission and core competencies, SEs appeal to themselves to gain internal and external legitimacy to achieve organizational growth. This finding reveals the complex relationship between SE ecosystems and the growth of SEs, and has implications for the construction of supportive SE ecosystems.

ESG Performance in Emerging Economies

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Business sustainability has been assessed by combining the financial (governance) and non-financial (environmental and social) performance of companies. This assessment must consider the institutional characteristics of the countries. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) are emerging economies, i.e., in economic and social transition. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that affect ESG performance and each of its pillars of companies located in these emerging markets. This objective was developed by means of panel data regression with fixed effects controlled by year and economic sector, over the period 2016 to 2022, obtaining 6,278 observations of companies located in the BRICS. The main results show that a country’s higher level of transparency (absence of corruption) increases performance in the environmental and social dimensions; while the Index of Economic Freedom is associated with the governance dimension; in the characteristics at the company level, voluntary adherence to the Global Compact stands out, and large companies show better ESG performance compared to medium and small companies. These results have empirical implications at the country level (policies and legislation) and at the company level (headquarters country and size differences). The main contribution indicates that different factors affect the ESG performance of BRICS countries and of companies located in these countries. This contribution fills a gap in the literature and empirical evidence on ESG in companies from emerging markets.

Macro Management & Public Policies

Does the Social Enterprise Ecosystem Facilitate the Growth of Social Enterprises? An Extended Case Study of Taiwan, China

ESG Performance in Emerging Economies