The Economics of Social Enterprises: an interpretative framework

The paper examines the economic nature of social enterprises. It starts by analysing the shortcomings of orthodox theories of the firm that focus on profit maximization and on self-interested preferences as the only possible drivers of entrepreneurial behaviour. The authors propose a general framework that encompasses organizations characterized by social objectives and non-self-seeking preferences. They argue that social enterprises can be interpreted as a specific coordination mechanisms that pursue production objectives that are not only private, with actors driven also by intrinsic motivations and other-regarding preferences.