Social enterprises’ key scientific vital problem from 2025

As a new organizational form that combines social mission and business sustainability, social enterprise research involves interdisciplinary fields such as economics, sociology, management, law, and political science. The scientific question of social enterprise research is essentially "how to find a third path between marketization and public welfare", and its underlying logic needs to be deconstructed from three dimensions: institutions, resources, and values. Future research needs to further integrate economics (such as contract theory), sociology (such as social network analysis), and data science to respond to the practical challenges of scaling, sustainability, and digitization of social enterprises. The major key scientific issues and underlying logic of current social enterprise research can be analyzed from the following dimensions.

1. Balance mechanism between social goals and economic sustainability.

Core question: How can social enterprises achieve financial self-sufficiency while pursuing maximum social value?

What are the essential differences between its business model design and traditional enterprises and non-profit organizations?

Difficulty: Prioritizing social goals may lead to resource constraints (such as financing difficulties and high costs), and it is necessary to explore the optimal path for resource integration and allocation.

2. The core issue of conflicts between the governance structure of social enterprises and stakeholders: how to construct a multi-party governance framework that balances social mission, shareholder interests, and beneficiary rights?

What are the special characteristics of the ownership and control distribution logic of social enterprises?

Difficulty: Traditional corporate governance theories (such as shareholder primacy) cannot be directly applied, and the risk of "mission drift" (such as commercialization leading to weakened social goals) needs to be addressed.

3. Quantitative evaluation and dynamic monitoring of social influence: How to scientifically define and measure the "social value" of social enterprises? Is there a unified evaluation index system?

Difficulty: Social value has multidimensional (such as poverty alleviation, environmental protection, education), long-term, and non monetary characteristics, making it difficult to measure through traditional financial indicators.

4. Core issues in the construction of institutional environment and the legitimacy of social enterprises: How do legal systems in different countries/regions define the legal status of social enterprises?

How do policy tools such as tax incentives and certification systems affect their development?

Difficulty: Social enterprises are often in a "fuzzy zone" in legal terms (neither purely commercial nor purely public welfare organizations), and need to break through institutional gaps and policy conflicts.

5. The core issue of scale and ecosystem synergy in social enterprises: How can social enterprises break through the limitations of being "small but beautiful" and achieve scale replication? How to design the collaborative mechanism with the government, market, and non-profit organizations?

Difficulty: Scaling up may dilute social value, and resource dependence and ecological adaptation issues need to be addressed.

The underlying logic analysis of social enterprise research revolves around its dual attributes (sociality+economy), which are reflected in the following theoretical framework:

1. The logical core of Hybrid Organization Theory: Social enterprises are a mixture of market logic (efficiency, competition) and social logic (fairness, public welfare), and their essence lies in the inherent tension and integration of the "dual goals". Related issues: Conflict of priority between social and economic goals, resource allocation strategies.

2. The logical core of Institutional Logic theory: Social enterprises need to survive under multiple institutional pressures (such as government regulation, market rules, and social expectations) and reconstruct their legitimacy through "institutional entrepreneurship". Related issues: adaptability to policy environment, ambiguity of legal identity, and social cognitive bias.

3. The logical core of Resource Dependence Theory: Social enterprises rely on external resources (such as funds, policies, and social capital) and need to reduce resource constraint risks through strategic cooperation. Related issues: Innovation in financing models and construction of stakeholder networks.

4. The logical core of Social Innovation Theory: Social enterprises are the innovative subjects of public goods supply, filling the "failure" areas between government and market through market-oriented means. Related issues: scaling paths, technological empowerment (such as the application of digital tools).

5. The logical core of Value Co creation Theory: The value creation of social enterprises relies on the participation of multiple stakeholders (such as users, communities, and investors), emphasizing "shared value" rather than a single profit. Related issues: governance model design, social impact assessment.

Future research breakthrough direction at the theoretical level: constructing an exclusive theoretical framework for social enterprises, breaking through the traditional "business public welfare" dichotomy; Explore the dynamic evolution of the lifecycle of social enterprises (start-up, growth, and maturity). Method level: Develop interdisciplinary hybrid research methods (such as case studies+computational social sciences); Establish a big data dynamic monitoring model for social influence. Practical level: Design certification standards and policy toolboxes for social enterprises (such as social bonds and impact investing); Exploring the disruptive impact of digital transformation on social enterprise governance (such as blockchain technology empowering transparency)，How can institutional entrepreneurs promote and lead the development of social enterprises? How can social finance support the expansion of social enterprises?....

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