Empirical and theoretical insights on social entrepreneurship from the developing and developed world

Call for Papers

Empirical and theoretical insights on social entrepreneurship from the developing and developed world

Journal: Journal of Social Entrepreneurship

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Submission deadline: 30 August 2026

This special issue compares social entrepreneurship across developing and developed economies, focusing on how context shapes motivations, business models, funding, institutional support, and impact. It invites work that is both empirical and theoretical, with a clear preference for field research.

Special Issue Editors

• Associate Professor Steve McKenna, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

• Professor Nisha Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

What the issue seeksThe call emphasizes that social entrepreneurship is a fluid and contested phenomenon, and that differences between developing and developed contexts are central to theory building. It highlights themes such as institutional contexts, types of social enterprise, case studies of business models and networks, enablers and constraints, technology use, and country comparisons.

Context matters

In developing economies, social entrepreneurship often addresses unmet needs such as education, healthcare, hygiene, poverty, gender inequality, and waste management, while also dealing with scarce funding, low government support, and reliance on informal networks. In developed economies, the focus is more often on sustainability, climate, diversity, mental health, immigration, more formal funding structures, and scalable hybrid business models.

Submission details

Manuscripts should be 6,000–8,000 words and formatted to the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship style. Literature reviews will not be considered, while conceptual papers may be accepted. Authors should choose the special issue title “Empirical and theoretical insights on social entrepreneurship from the developing and developed world” when submitting.

ServiceSetu Academics — Premier Platform for Academic Opportunities & Research Collaboration

Visit official website of the publisher