12 September 2023 | Adelaide
The Entrepreneurship Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC) at The University of Adelaide welcomed Iulia Stroila to lead a seminar with ECIC researchers dedicated to the topic of social entrepreneurship. During her research stay from September 11th to 19th at The University of Adelaide, Iulia had the privilege of presenting a collaborative paper titled "Determinants of Social Entrepreneurial Activity: A Cross-Country Examination." This paper was co-authored with Dr. Henry Shi from ECIC, The University of Adelaide, and Joelle del Rio, an alumna of FH Münster, who currently holds a position at WEICON GmbH.
During the seminar and her research stay, Iulia engaged in discussions with researchers from The University of Adelaide, offering insights into the emerging findings of the research project. These interactions contributed significantly to the ongoing refinement of the collaborative paper.
The central question addressed by the researchers deals with the topic of social entrepreneurship: Why do we witness differences in social entrepreneurship among countries, despite the recognized benefits of social entrepreneurship for sustainable development?
Drawing from data found in the GEM Special Topic Report 2015 on social entrepreneurship, which encompassed insights from 57 different countries, in the seminar Iulia presented some noteworthy findings. One key discovery was the positive relationship between individual capital and the likelihood of participating in social entrepreneurial activities. This link was consistent across different economic development phases, highlighting the fundamental role of individual capabilities in driving social entrepreneurship.
However, a more pronounced effect of individual capital on social entrepreneurship was observed in innovation-driven economies. This suggests that in these environments, individual capabilities play an even more significant role in stimulating social entrepreneurial activity.
The seminar also touched on the influence of the institutional context. It emphasized that the connection between institutional support and social entrepreneurship isn't uniform across all countries. Instead, it varies when considering the economic development phase of each country. In innovation-driven economies, institutional support had a positive impact, emphasizing the importance of supportive environments for nurturing social entrepreneurship. In non-innovation-driven economies, the relationship was less straightforward, except for government support.