Recognition and Legal Forms of Social Enterprise in Europe: A Critical Analysis from a Comparative Law Perspective

29 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2015

See all articles by Antonio Fici

Antonio Fici

University of Molise; European Research Institute on Cooperative & Social Enterprise (EURICSE)

Date Written: December 18, 2015

Abstract

Social enterprise lawmaking is a growth industry. In the United States alone, over the last few years, there has been a proliferation of state laws establishing specific legal forms for social enterprises. The situation is not different in Europe, where the process began much earlier than in the United States and today at least fifteen European Union member states have specific laws for social enterprise. This article will describe the current state of the legislation on social enterprise in Europe, inquiring into its fundamental role in the development of the social economy and its particular logics as distinct from those of the for-profit capitalistic economy. It will explore the models of social enterprise regulation that seem more consistent with the economic growth inspired by the paradigms of the social economy. It will finally explain why, in regulating and shaping social enterprise, the model of the social enterprise in the cooperative form is to be preferred to that of the social enterprise in the company form.

Keywords: Social enterprise; Social economy; Cooperatives; Comparative law; Non-profit corporate governance

JEL Classification: K22; L31

Suggested Citation

Fici, Antonio, Recognition and Legal Forms of Social Enterprise in Europe: A Critical Analysis from a Comparative Law Perspective (December 18, 2015). Euricse Working Papers, 82|15, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2705354 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2705354

Antonio Fici (Contact Author)

University of Molise

Via De Sanctis
Campobasso, Campobasso (CB) 86100
Italy

European Research Institute on Cooperative & Social Enterprise (EURICSE) ( email )

Via S. Giovanni 36
38122 Trento (TN)
Italy

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