Social Enterprises in Serbia: Analysis of Key Development Factors, Major Actors and their Relationships

  • Ana Aleksić Mirić University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics
  • Gorana Krstić University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics

Abstract

In this paper we present evidence from the empirical research which focuses on social entrepreneurship (SE) in Serbia. We analysed the key factors that influence the development of social enterprises, the major actors in the sector and the relationships established among them. Our data show that owners are the dominant stakeholder group influencing SE business and that they are followed by the customers. The influence of the market vs the influence of the regulations changes with the change in size of the enterprise. The importance of the state also changes with the change in size. Though social enterprises operate in the network characterised by the trust among the actors, high quality cooperation and embeddedness into a network of closely tied business relations, the level of influence that sector itself has is perceived very low.

Author Biographies

Ana Aleksić Mirić, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics

Ana Aleksić Mirić is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade. She holds MSci and PhD degrees from the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade. During her PhD education she was a visiting scholar on Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, USA and Carnegie Mellon University, USA. She has been involved in a number of research projects financed by the European Union, World Bank Institute and Serbian Government in the domain of the effects the reforms within Serbian economy have on growth, employment, competitive market structure and competitiveness of firms. She is experienced in business consulting to both private and public organizations. She has a rich publishing record of book chapters and articles in international and national volumes.

Gorana Krstić, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics

Gorana Krstić is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade. She obtained her PhD degree in Economics at the School of Social Sciences, Sussex University in 2002. Her main research interests are the labour markets, informal economy, poverty, inequality and social policy. She has published (and edited) 16 monographs in these fields and has had more than 40 articles published in both national and international journals. She has been consulting short and long term for leading international agencies, including the World Bank, UNDP, ILO, EC and USAID. She has won a few competitions for individual and institutional research for which she was the team leader (the National Bank of Serbia, the Vienna Institute for International Studies, UNDP, UN, USAID).

Published
2017-04-22
How to Cite
Aleksić Mirić, A., & Krstić, G. (2017). Social Enterprises in Serbia: Analysis of Key Development Factors, Major Actors and their Relationships. Management:Journal Of Sustainable Business And Management Solutions In Emerging Economies, 21(81), 47-57. doi:10.7595/management.fon.2016.0030
Section
Articles