Social aims and economic activities - definitions of the social enterprises

Initiatives combining social aims and economic activities, the so-called social enterprises, are becoming more and more widespread across the world. In recent years, besides the United States and Western-Europe more and more social enterprises started to function in Central and Eastern Europe as well. However, there is no unified definition describing the concept: the various schools of thought create definitions emphasizing different characteristics. As of right now, in Hungary the topic can be regarded as under-researched. However, in the near future its relevance can be expected to grow due to the lack of resources available in the nonprofit sector, as well as the priorities of the European Union stressing the role of social enterprises. In order to facilitate the understanding of the phenomenon of social enterprises in the Hungarian context, this paper presents the different international and Hungarian approaches showing their historical development as well.