RAUSP: Revista de Administração da Universidade de São Paulo (Sep 2012)

Social and commercial entrepreneurship: same, different, or both?

  • James Austin,
  • Howard Stevenson,
  • Jane Wei-Skillern

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0080-21072012000300003
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47, no. 3
pp. 370 – 384

Abstract

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Entrepreneurship has been the engine propelling much of the growth of the business sector as well as a driving force behind the rapid expansion of the social sector. This article offers a comparative analysis of commercial and social entrepreneurship using a prevailing analytical model from commercial entrepreneurship. The analysis highlights key similarities and differences between these two forms of entrepreneurship and presents a framework on how to approach the social entrepreneurial process more systematically and effectively. We explore the implications of this analysis of social entrepreneurship for both practitioners and researchers.

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