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Innovation systems are increasingly oriented towards the solution of societal and environmental problems. Social entrepreneurship can be regarded as a market-based actor, inherently aimed at finding solutions for these problems. The development of technologically advanced social entrepreneurship represents an outcome of problem-oriented innovation systems, requiring a closer link between social and technological innovation. Nonetheless, the literature has not yet explored a key element of these innovation systems: the technology transfer processes, which may enable social entrepreneurial organizations to act as innovation actors leveraging on technology. This paper investigates the relationship between the technology transfer processes targeting social entrepreneurship and different models of problem-oriented innovation ecosystems. The paper relies on a multiple-case-study design, including two problem-oriented innovation ecosystems in the Italian context, namely, MIND and Torino Social Impact, which are technology transfer projects designed to target social entrepreneurship. Drawing from content analysis of interviews, documents and direct observations, the results stress that the different objectives and contents of technology transfer, coupled with different perceptions of the idiosyncratic features of social entrepreneurship compared to commercial entrepreneurship, fit different ecosystem models in terms of the participating actors, governance and primary orientation to social or economic value generation.
Francesco Gerli; Veronica Chiodo; Irene Bengo. Technology Transfer for Social Entrepreneurship: Designing Problem-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems. Sustainability 2020, 13, 20 .
AMA StyleFrancesco Gerli, Veronica Chiodo, Irene Bengo. Technology Transfer for Social Entrepreneurship: Designing Problem-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems. Sustainability. 2020; 13 (1):20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFrancesco Gerli; Veronica Chiodo; Irene Bengo. 2020. "Technology Transfer for Social Entrepreneurship: Designing Problem-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems." Sustainability 13, no. 1: 20.
This paper contributes to the current debate about Benefit Corporations, presenting the development of this organisational model in Italy, the first country to introduce this hybrid form after the US. Grounded on an institutional logic perspective, it provides a picture of the institutional dynamics that have characterised the rise of this new entrepreneurial form outside the US. The analysis provides an in-depth foundational study of the Italian case and highlights the relevant influence of different institutional pressures in explaining the rise of and constraints in the diffusion of Benefit Corporations. Empirically, it combines secondary data, available from different public sources, and primary data collected through interviews with a series of knowledgeable informants. Based upon the analysis, two aspects appear peculiar for the development of Benefit Corporations in Italy: the interplay between the Benefit Corporation legal form and the certified B Corp model, and the rise of tensions between social entrepreneurship and the third sector ecosystem. This paper concludes that the peculiar institutional pressures leading to the birth of Benefit Corporations in Italy may be source of permanent tensions and of concern for the diffusion of the model.
Marika Arena; Irene Bengo; Francesco Gerli; Paola Colzani. An Institutional Analysis of the Rise of Benefit Corporations Outside of the US: The Case of Italy. 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleMarika Arena, Irene Bengo, Francesco Gerli, Paola Colzani. An Institutional Analysis of the Rise of Benefit Corporations Outside of the US: The Case of Italy. . 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarika Arena; Irene Bengo; Francesco Gerli; Paola Colzani. 2020. "An Institutional Analysis of the Rise of Benefit Corporations Outside of the US: The Case of Italy." , no. : 1.