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The promise and problems of price subsidization in social entrepreneurship

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  • McMullen, Jeffery S.
  • Bergman, Brian J.

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship research has often focused on the benefits and challenges of designing hybrid organizations that integrate competing institutional logics to tackle social problems using market-based methods, especially in developing economies. Drawing on case evidence from the Safe Water for Africa program, we show how and why pricing new products at other than market prices offers a seductive but dangerous mechanism for managers seeking to pursue dual objectives in hybrid organizations. We identify five strategic and operational challenges with ethical implications that manifest as pricing dilemmas and show how and why they are likely to elicit moral dilemmas among stakeholders of social entrepreneurship who are not equally committed to both social and economic objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • McMullen, Jeffery S. & Bergman, Brian J., 2018. "The promise and problems of price subsidization in social entrepreneurship," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 609-621.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:61:y:2018:i:4:p:609-621
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Tasneem Sadiq & Rob van Tulder & Karen Maas, 2022. "Building a Taxonomy of Hybridization: An Institutional Logics Perspective on Societal Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    7. Gupta, Parul & Chauhan, Sumedha & Paul, Justin & Jaiswal, M.P., 2020. "Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 209-229.
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