Social Value Creation: A Qualitative Study Of Indian Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurship is emerging as an important field of study within business disciplines. There is significant social entrepreneurship activity in emerging economies but little systematic research of the phenomenon in this context. The purpose of this study is to generate a deeper understanding of how social value is created in India (one of the largest emerging economies). Using a multiple historical case study design and systematic coding techniques, we uncover distinct types of social entrepreneurship activities in India and identify intriguing common, conceptual themes across types. These insights pointedly illustrate how social entrepreneurs successfully blend social and economic imperatives of social entrepreneurship. Based on our findings, we present four testable propositions.