Working Paper: 428

Role of Social Entrepreneurship in the Quality
of Life of Its Beneficiaries

 

Neeti Singh
Anand Inbanathan
 

Abstract

This paper focuses on social entrepreneurship and its effects on the quality of life of its beneficiaries. It explores the idea whether social entrepreneurship can work as a building block for an alternative model, in a situation where both the market and the state have failed to provide social goods. By providing social goods such as education, health services, adequate housing, recreational facilities, and participation in political decision-making, social entrepreneurship serves humanity’s most pressing needs. Thus, it brings changes in the quality of life, and is studied here from the capabilities perspective. The qualitative method is used for analysing the effects of social entrepreneurship on the quality of life of the beneficiaries of two social enterprises. Social entrepreneurship is found to be bringing changes that can be gauged best in terms of capabilities. The women beneficiaries have gained the most among all, and show changes in their empowerment levels, social inclusion, and psychological state.

 

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