Author(s): Alla Kasych, Svitlana Kozhemiakina, Marek Vochozka, Olesia Romanenko, Valentyna Glukhova
The main difference between a social entrepreneurship and other business entities is the prevalence of a social over its business purpose, the restriction of the distribution of profits between its owners and the transparency of its activities. The peculiarities of the socio-economic development of the USA and the countries of Western Europe led to the formation of two concepts of social entrepreneurship. In the American concept, a social enterprise is seen as a business organization focused on solving social problems. In the European concept, social enterprises are the key result of social activity, and the business result is considered as an additional one.
Analysis of data from special surveys and research of social enterprises in the world (in the absence of official statistical information) indicates the high rates of growth of the number of social enterprises and the number of employed workers in European countries, where they are actively supported by the state. For European social enterprises, they are characterized by a wide range of activities (but the service sector is a priority); various organizational and legal forms; the tendency to increase the share of own funds as a source of financing activities.