Are Social Incubators Social Enterprises? A Study of Italian Social Incubators

Social incubation is a recent phenomenon, but it is rapidly growing on an international scale in response to the expansion of the social economy and the increased awareness that social enterprises can play a pivotal role in reforming the welfare system. The academic literature on this topic is still in its early days and detailed investigations of whether these organizations embrace sustainable business models are still missing. Consequently, we do not yet know whether social incubation creates value in a sustainable manner and, if so, how to maximize and optimize the creation of such value. Understanding the sustainability and the overall viability of social incubation is both important and timely, as the phenomenon consolidates and expands internationally. This chapter offers a preliminary, but systematic study of this issue through an extensive empirical investigation of 14 social incubators in Italy. The main theoretical contribution of this chapter is a new theoretical framework that elaborates on the literature streams of social entrepreneurship and social and business incubators. A secondary, empirical contribution is the first systematic mapping of the social incubators across Italy.