Social economy

By using solutions to achieve not-for-profit aims, a social economy has a unique role in creating a strong, sustainable, prosperous and inclusive society.

One criterion is a descriptive feature: If none of the above criteria are met, or the primary object of the enterprise is commercial, it is located at the bottom of the vertical axis.

The Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub) acted as a facilitator between 2005 and 2011, promoting collaboration among six regional research centres across Canada (Québec, Atlantic, Southern Ontario, Prairies and Northern Ontario, BC and Alberta and the North), and creating opportunities and exchanges with international networks.

The process of national political integration of the social economy in Spain started in 1990 with the creation of the National Institute for the Promotion of Social Economy (Instituto Nacional de Fomento de la Economía Social—INFES) through Law 31/1990 by Spain's Parliament on 27 December of that year.

[8] Furthermore, and due to the decentralization of powers that characterizes Spain's territorial system, there are different substantive rules regarding the various entities in the social economy whose regulation falls within the scope of the regional governments, giving rise to the existence of similar institutions within each autonomous community of industry participants.

Today, CEPES is a confederation with national scope and cross-sector membership and is recognized as an institution of the highest level in Spain's economy.

[9] Each year, the organization collects data and publishes several reports on the state of the social economy sector in both Spain and the Mediterranean.

Comparative data of the Spanish social economy relative to similar sectors in other parts of the world are also reported.

[11] The government of Hugo Chávez believed that the informal sector could be absorbed into the social economy of Venezuela by strictly controlling (or nationalising) large firms and creating new forms of private enterprise which were more accessible to the poor.

[clarification needed] The government planned to provide technology, training, finance and exclusive contracts to small enterprises so that they could survive in the national marketplace.

In 1989, the Delors Commission established a Social Economy Unit to coordinate the movement at the European level; however, official texts adopted the term "Co-operatives, Mutuals, Associations and Foundations" (CMAFs).

[14] The European Parliament established a Social Economy Intergroup (SEIG), integrating MEPs from 5 political groups and from 6 countries.

[1][21] Hybrids have primarily existed in sectors such as job training, health care, and microcredit, but have recently expanded to include environmentalism, technology, and even consulting.

Then-President Ronald Reagan drastically cut public spending, which significantly decreased the amount of funding non-profits received.

Continued stagnation in funding throughout the late 1990s despite the growing number of nonprofits meant increased competition for the limited grants available to the third sector.

As such, non-profits became increasingly entrepreneurial as a means of survival, giving rise to the social economy or so-called fourth sector.