OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF BULGARIA

Abstract

In terms of content, the paper deals with an extremely important economic problem, devoted to Social Entrepreneurship as a key element of the European and, in particular, the Bulgarian practice, taking into consideration that Bulgaria is an emerging market, which transits from a centrally-planned to social market economy. The research methodology is of a survey-descriptive type. A wide range of research methods are used to successfully achieve the goals and tasks of the paper. In-person verbal interviews were conducted with 45 entrepreneurs and managers of Social Enterprises in Bulgaria as expert practitioners, to test the ideas, build knowledge, and gain insightful context and nuance to the ideas. Two Focus Groups were held to produce a single agreed platform for communicating in an objective way the company works. It was created a profile of the Social Entrepreneur as a conclusion of the in-depth interviews. The survey used simple random sampling; 450 questionnaires were distributed, and 371 questionnaires were finally received. Analysis of collected data was made using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).