To carry out a three-year programme of research that identifies the extent to which social enterprises contribute to the accumulation of social capital (as networks of mutually and trust which minimise the transaction costs of information and knowledge) in the social economy, and in turn, the wider local economy in four member states. The research will identify baseline indicators and measures of social enterprise, social economy and social capital and incorporate these into new methodologies of socio-economic profiling and social auditing for use in the research in two localities in participating member states.
The aim of the research is to
- develop new models of local social and economic development
- demonstrate ways in which knowledge generated via social capital accumulation assists in local economic development and growth, and the role of social enterprises in the social economy within that
- generate new methods to integrate policy concerns of social inclusion and economic development