How Does The Social Entrepreneurship Process Work In Lyon And Shanghai Cities From A Structuration Theory Perspective?

This research will deal with the social entrepreneurship process and how it is influenced by the socioeconomic context in which the social entrepreneur in embedded.Depending on the country in which we are situated,the process of social entrepreneurship will be different,social entrepreneurs having to adapt to their social and economic environment.This research is based on semi-structured interviews with several social entrepreneurs in Lyon and Shanghai cities.It aims to explore the social entrepreneur process from a structuration perspective.According to this vision,the social entrepreneurs act upon the realization of satisfying social need and fill an institutional void.The socioeconomic context(structure)will enable or constraint social entrepreneurs(agent)to act.In return,the social entrepreneurs' actions altered the socioeconomic context.The findings suggest the importance of the two dimensions,the social context on the one hand and the economic context on the other hand.Hence,the social context appeared has the key to the social entrepreneurship process,no matter in which city or country we are situated.Indeed,it is because the social entrepreneurs from Lyon and Shanghai grew up and still live in a rich social context,full of resources,that they could enter and go through all the phases of the social entrepreneurship process.The economic context is what encouraged them first to act.It is by observing the important social needs of their city,and the institutional void to solve them,that the social entrepreneurs decided to act to alter and improve the economic situation.Then,during the social entrepreneurship process,the economic context would either enable or constraint them to act.If the French economic context still has some gaps in terms of policies,it isn't so constraining for the Lyonese social entrepreneurs who find ways to act.However,the economic context in Shanghai,more than lacking supports,limits the social entrepreneurs in their actions.Consequently,the social entrepreneurship process doesn't evolve and succeed as fast as it could.This research will benefit the academic literature,where few pieces of research about the social entrepreneurship process,and more specifically from a structuration perspective and through comparison,have been made.This study will also benefit practitioners thanks to the valuable insight into the factors enhancing or limiting the success of the social entrepreneurship process.