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Social enterprise in South Korea: history and diversity

Eric Bidet (Faculty of Law, Management and Economics, Le Mans University, Le Mans, France)
Hyung‐Sik Eum (Centre for Social Economy, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium)

Social Enterprise Journal

ISSN: 1750-8614

Article publication date: 24 May 2011

3437

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deal with the history and main features of social enterprises in South Korea, where a specific legal framework was enacted in 2006.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis emphasises an economic sociological approach mixing economic considerations, political features and social aspects. The mobilised information comes from previous works realised by the authors on that topic as well as from updated statistics and data about policies, laws and regulations.

Findings

The study underlines that the emergence of social enterprises in South Korea was rooted in civil society and citizens' movements before it became a priority on the government's agenda. The result is the co‐existence of several forms of social enterprise with distinctive features: social enterprises certified by the official label, on the one hand, and de facto social enterprises, defined as such because of their practices, goals and values, on the other hand. Such a situation generates a growing tension between the priorities and values emphasised by the political sphere and by the civil society.

Research limitations/implications

Social enterprise is an emerging field of interest and a recent phenomenon, constantly in progress; consequently, systematic data on the field are still lacking, and researchers do not have enough hindsight to learn definitive lessons and draw broad conclusions of statistical significance.

Originality/value

The paper sheds light on a phenomenon that is multi‐dimensional and is rapidly evolving. It provides a better comprehension of South Korean political choices and socio‐economic changes and can help to anticipate future evolutions and to shape related policies to deal with work integration and the promotion of welfare‐mix in the field of social services provision. It also brings information and learning for cross‐country comparative studies.

Keywords

Citation

Bidet, E. and Eum, H. (2011), "Social enterprise in South Korea: history and diversity", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 69-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/17508611111130167

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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