Publication details
Publicly Funded Social Innovation
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Current Trends in Public Sector Research |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Economy |
| Keywords | non-profit sector; social innovation; public sector; interdependence theory; financing |
| Description | This paper critically focuses on the latest theory which considers the non-governmental non-profit sector to be the major and always civic-minded social innovator, nearly unbeatable by its private for-profit and public non-profit “competitors” as regards generated innovations. The idea that the non-governmental non-profit sector is somehow superior in terms of generated social innovations is also frequently mentioned in the current scientific and research projects dealing with this phenomenon, for example “The Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Foundations for Social Innovation in Europe (TEPSIE)”, “Impact of the Third Sector and Social Innovation (ITSSOIN)” and a number of other projects that are smaller in their scale (but not less important), to name but a few. The present contribution (that takes into account the selected theories of the non-governmental non-profit sector) answers the question of whether it is actually possible to consider the non-governmental non-profit sector to be a self-reliant innovator independent of the public support. On the basis of a detailed study of a group of projects that can be considered to be examples of good practice in the field of social innovations, the paper outlines the real role played by the non-governmental non-profit sector in their development. Hence, it also provides answers with respect to the necessity and importance of engagement of the remaining sectors in the socially-innovative activities. |