IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v14y2024i6p82-d1409081.html

Rural–Urban Features of Social Innovation: An Exploratory Study of Work Integration Social Enterprises in Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Lucas Olmedo

    (Department of Food Business and Development, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland)

  • María José Ruiz-Rivera

    (CIRTES, Université catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium)

  • Mary O’Shaughnessy

    (Department of Food Business and Development, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland)

  • Georgios Chatzichristos

    (School of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

Geography is a significant element of social innovation. This paper focuses on exploring differences and similarities in the characteristics and contributions towards impact of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), a form of social innovation which provides otherwise unmet services and opportunities to people at risk of social and economic exclusion and distant from the labour market, in rural and urban areas of Ireland. To do so, we use data from 336 surveys from urban (213) and rural (123) WISEs and conduct an exploratory and spatially sensitive analysis to compare the characteristics, in terms of organisational age, legal and governance form, multiplicity of activities, revenue diversification; and contributions towards impact, in terms of geographical focus/reach, employment, volunteers, and income generation. Our analysis shows that WISEs in urban and rural areas present rather similar organisational characteristics and ways of functioning (legal structure, multiactivity, multiple sources of funding), but their contributions to socioeconomic impact differ according to their spatial location, with urban WISEs generating significantly more employment and income than their rural counterparts. Our study illustrates that socially innovative organisations are spatially sensitive, and that context influences their capacity to create sustainable employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucas Olmedo & María José Ruiz-Rivera & Mary O’Shaughnessy & Georgios Chatzichristos, 2024. "Rural–Urban Features of Social Innovation: An Exploratory Study of Work Integration Social Enterprises in Ireland," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:14:y:2024:i:6:p:82-:d:1409081
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/6/82/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/6/82/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ralph Richter, 2021. "Innovations at the edge: how local innovations are established in less favourable environments," Urban Research & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 502-522, October.
    2. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    3. Noack, Anika & Federwisch, Tobias, 2020. "Social Innovation in Rural Regions: Older Adults and Creative Community Development," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 85(4), pages 1021-1044.
    4. Zeno C. S. Leung & Amy P. Y. Ho & Linda Y. N. Tjia & Raymond K. Y. Tam & K. T. Chan & Michael K. W. Lai, 2019. "Social Impacts of Work Integration Social Enterprise in Hong Kong – Workfare and Beyond," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 159-176, May.
    5. Ingebjørg Vestrum & Einar Rasmussen & Sara Carter, 2017. "How nascent community enterprises build legitimacy in internal and external environments," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(11), pages 1721-1734, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriela Christmann & Ariane Sept & Ralph Richter, 2024. "Socially Innovative Initiatives in Deprived Rural Areas of Germany, Ireland and Portugal: Exploring Empowerment and Impact on Community Development," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Christmann, Gabriela & Sept, Ariane & Richter, Ralph, 2024. "Socially Innovative Initiatives in Deprived Rural Areas of Germany, Ireland and Portugal: Exploring Empowerment and Impact on Community Development," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(5).
    3. K. Gayathri Reddy & Varsha, P. S. & L. N. Sudheendra Rao & Amit Kumar, 2019. "Exploring dimension, perceived individual tension and capacity building measure of women empowerment in India," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(5), pages 111-131, May.
    4. Kyle Scott, 2026. "Defining the Social and the Good in Social Entrepreneurship: Stoic Ethics as a Conceptual Foundation," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 35(1), pages 216-242, February.
    5. I Wayan Ruspendi Junaedi & I Wayan Damayana & Dermawan Waruwu & I Gusti Bagus Rai Utama, 2020. "Social Enterprises through Traditional Cooperation: Love, Joint Responsibility, Portfolio, and Wellbeing," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 12(1), pages 333-346, October.
    6. Babita Bhatt & Israr Qureshi & Suhaib Riaz, 2019. "Social Entrepreneurship in Non-munificent Institutional Environments and Implications for Institutional Work: Insights from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 605-630, February.
    7. Esther García‐Río & Francisco Rincon‐Roldan & Pedro Baena‐Luna, 2025. "Mapping the relevance and influence of gender in social economy enterprises: A review based on bibliographic analysis," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(3), pages 433-453, September.
    8. Régis Y. Chenavaz & Alexandra Couston & Stéphanie Heichelbech & Isabelle Pignatel & Stanko Dimitrov, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-30, May.
    9. Hoelscher, Kristian & Ainembabazi, Triphine & Mbabazi, Judith & Mukwaya, Paul & Rolandsen, Øystein H., 2025. "“Peace is when we are working”: Insecurity and small business survival in Kampala," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 525-539.
    10. Mitzinneck, Björn C. & Coenen, Jana & Noseleit, Florian & Rupietta, Christian, 2024. "Impact creation approaches of community-based enterprises: A configurational analysis of enabling conditions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(6).
    11. Alessandro Piperno & Christian Iaione & Luna Kappler, 2023. "Institutional Collective Actions for Culture and Heritage-Led Urban Regeneration: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, May.
    12. Syrus M Islam, 2022. "Social impact scaling strategies in social enterprises: A systematic review and research agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 298-321, May.
    13. Esperanza García Uceda & Bárbara Oliván Blázquez & à ngela Asensio-Martínez & Santiago Gascón-Santos, 2025. "Analysis of Professional Development, Social Capital and Resilience of Women in Rural Areas: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(3), pages 21582440251, August.
    14. Sophie Bacq & Frank Janssen & Anne-Sophie Sabbatucci & Amélie Wuillaume, 2026. "The dark side of doing good: a guiding framework for advancing research on the negative outcomes of social entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 647-674, February.
    15. Ritesh Shahi & Nadiya Parekh, 2022. "Financing Social Enterprises: An Upper Echelon Perspective," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 11(2), pages 235-250, June.
    16. Anna Butzin & Franz Flögel, 2024. "High-tech development for “left behind” places: lessons-learnt from the Ruhr cybersecurity ecosystem," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 17(2), pages 307-322.
    17. Mara Willemijn van Twuijver & Lucas Olmedo & Mary O’Shaughnessy & Thia Hennessy, 2020. "Rural social enterprises in Europe: A systematic literature review," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 35(2), pages 121-142, March.
    18. Sophie Bacq & Kimberly A. Eddleston, 2018. "A Resource-Based View of Social Entrepreneurship: How Stewardship Culture Benefits Scale of Social Impact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 589-611, October.
    19. Enrica Imbert & Piergiuseppe Morone & Francesca Bigi, 2019. "Assessing the potential of social enterprises through social network analysis - Evidence from Albania," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1211-1239, September.
    20. K. K. Tripathy & Manisha Paliwal & Anshu Singh, 2022. "Women’s social entrepreneurship and livelihood innovation: an exploratory study from India," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 16(4), pages 863-881, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:14:y:2024:i:6:p:82-:d:1409081. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.