Multilevel causal mechanisms in social entrepreneurship: the enabling role of social capital
Multilevel causal mechanisms in social entrepreneurship: the enabling role of social capital
We take a new mechanism-based approach to explain how social entrepreneurship emerges from the interaction of multilevel elements, based on case study evidence from China. Informed by Coleman’s ‘boat model’ of social mechanisms, social capital theory and a critical realist ontology, we highlight three mechanisms – the sparking, manifesting, and scaling mechanisms – which collectively generate the social entrepreneurship phenomenon. When enabled by social capital, these mechanisms explain the causal relations between the multilevel elements of social entrepreneurship: social needs, social entrepreneurial ideas and practice, market creation, and social impact. This framework generates novel insights into the multilevel nature of social entrepreneurship, and the central role of social capital in enabling its underlying mechanisms.
boat theory, causal mechanism, china, critical realism, social capital, social entrepeneurship, Social entrepreneurship, China, Causal mechanism
Hu, Xiaoti
aa911c15-cebf-4cc2-b891-edcebccc9e2a
Zimmermann, Angelika
f8676b1e-6258-48b0-abe0-461ce8fe8333
Marlow, Susan
ae80ef80-c9e1-4a6e-bb27-bd2e0c8b5208
Hu, Xiaoti
aa911c15-cebf-4cc2-b891-edcebccc9e2a
Zimmermann, Angelika
f8676b1e-6258-48b0-abe0-461ce8fe8333
Marlow, Susan
ae80ef80-c9e1-4a6e-bb27-bd2e0c8b5208
Hu, Xiaoti, Zimmermann, Angelika and Marlow, Susan
(2024)
Multilevel causal mechanisms in social entrepreneurship: the enabling role of social capital.
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.
(doi:10.1080/08985626.2024.2422368).
Abstract
We take a new mechanism-based approach to explain how social entrepreneurship emerges from the interaction of multilevel elements, based on case study evidence from China. Informed by Coleman’s ‘boat model’ of social mechanisms, social capital theory and a critical realist ontology, we highlight three mechanisms – the sparking, manifesting, and scaling mechanisms – which collectively generate the social entrepreneurship phenomenon. When enabled by social capital, these mechanisms explain the causal relations between the multilevel elements of social entrepreneurship: social needs, social entrepreneurial ideas and practice, market creation, and social impact. This framework generates novel insights into the multilevel nature of social entrepreneurship, and the central role of social capital in enabling its underlying mechanisms.
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Multilevel causal mechanisms in social entrepreneurship the enabling role of social capital
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 October 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 October 2024
Keywords:
boat theory, causal mechanism, china, critical realism, social capital, social entrepeneurship, Social entrepreneurship, China, Causal mechanism
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 495513
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495513
ISSN: 0898-5626
PURE UUID: 8f09f252-3104-4f15-95a7-981a8bffba71
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Date deposited: 15 Nov 2024 17:35
Last modified: 16 Nov 2024 02:59
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Contributors
Author:
Xiaoti Hu
Author:
Angelika Zimmermann
Author:
Susan Marlow
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