Legal Framework for Social Enterprise

10.1596/26397 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Triponel ◽  
Natalia Agapitova

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an outline and overview legal framework for social enterprises, including funding and procurement policies to accelerate the growth of social enterprise ecosystem. The legal framework specifically designed for UK social enterprises is known as Community Interest Company (CIC). The internal governance rules, the permissibility of direct economic activities and the rules governing profit distribution for a CIC are discussed. The chapter explains procurement policies introduced in the United Kingdom to ensure deliver and accountability for services provided by social enterprises. Procurement is increasingly seen as the key to delivering desired outcomes for government funded programmes and it provides the link between policy and delivery. The chapter also discusses a number of funds and loans structures established by the government such as: Future Builders, The Social Enterprise Investment Fund, and Big Society Capital (BSC) to encourage the development of third sector social enterprises.


Author(s):  
Bohinc Rado

Social enterprises are very diverse across Europe. There is a wide range of different legislative approaches and different organisational and legal forms on the national level. In some countries, existing legal forms such as associations, foundations, cooperatives and share companies are used as social enterprises. In other countries, new legal forms are designed for social enterprises by adapting existing legal forms (companies, cooperatives), e.g. social cooperatives in Italy, cooperative collective interest companies in France, community interest companies in the UK.The reason for the variety of approaches how to implement the idea of social enterprise, is in the lack of uniform binding rules on the level of the EU. Here, we present our views on the legal framework needed to implement the concept of social entrepreneurship in the EU in a more efficient and effective manner.First, we present a range of definition of social entrepreneurship and enterprises, many of them not consistent and/or sufficiently elaborated. Further, some historical roots are presented on social and self-managed economy, and the concept of social enterprise is elaborated from the point of view of its eligibility. Comparative analysis aims to prove critical diversity of approaches across the EU that leads to stagnating in place and lagging behind.


Author(s):  
Adriana Neguț

During recent years we have witnessed a growing interest in Romania for social economy, as a result of the increasing interest of EU towards the field and the financing lines as SOP HRD 2007-2013, and as well for developing a legal framework on social economy. In Romania, many of the social economy organizations are dependent on these sources of funding, which is a major obstacle to long term sustainability of the sector. In this context, the paper aims to analyse the strategies of social enterprises established under the Priority Axis 6 of SOP HRD to ensure sustainability, on the assumption that once the funding ends they face significant risks and adopt different strategies in order to develop. The sustainability of social enterprises will be explored from three perspectives: (1) financial, seeking to identify the strategies of social enterprises to attract new funding, (2) in terms of consistency of the social enterprise with its initial objectives and principles and (3) from the point of view of the social enterprises' impact on vulnerable groups and the community. The analysis will be based on data from sociological researches on social economy entities in Romania, carried out between 2009 and 2014.


Author(s):  
Francois Brouard ◽  
J.J. McMurtry ◽  
Marcelo Vieta

The objective of this article is to examine social enterprises in Ontario, Canada, as part of the “Social Enterprises Models in Canada” research of the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project. The report presents an analysis of the historical, contextual, and conceptual understanding of social enterprises in Ontario. Five cases studies illustrate social enterprise models, and the article then presents the main institutions in Ontario related to social enterprises, describing legal framework, public policies, university institutions, networks, spaces, and funding agencies and programs. Dans le cadre du projet Modèles d’entreprises sociales au Canada de l’International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM), l’objectif du présent article est d’examiner les entreprises sociales en Ontario, Canada. Le rapport présente une analyse historique, contextuelle et conceptuelle pour comprendre les entreprises sociales en Ontario. Cinq études de cas illustrent les modèles d’entreprises sociales. Les principales institutions liées aux entreprises sociales en Ontario, tel que le cadre législatif, les politiques publiques, les établissements universitaires, les réseaux, les espaces, les organismes de financement et les programmes, sont décrites.


2003 ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Radygin ◽  
R. Entov

The paper deals with theoretical approaches to the problems of property rights and contractual obligations and with analysis of economic consequences of the imperfect enforcement system. In particular, the authors consider Russian experience in the sphere of corporate conflicts. Legal and practical recommendations related to the improvement of legal framework, judiciary reform, executory process and different federal and regional authorities are also presented.


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