Social Entrepreneurship as a Subject of the Market Economy and Consumer Society: Essence, Specifics and Tendencies of Development

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to determine the essence, specifics, and tendencies of development of social entrepreneurship as a subject of market economy and consumer society. Design/methodology/approach: Regression analysis is used for determining regression dependence (building regression curves) of the social entrepreneurship index on the factors of the market economy and consumer society: buyer sophistication and extent of market dominance separately in developed and developing countries. Findings: It is determines that both wide and narrow treatments of social entrepreneurship are met in the modern business practice. This allows formulating a universal definition of social entrepreneurship as a subject of business activity, which functions in the conditions of extent of market dominance, reacts flexibly to the signals of the market economy and requirements of consumer society, and implements corporate social responsibility and/or non-profit activities. Originality/value: As the empirical experience of 2020 has shown, non-profit social entrepreneurship dominates in developed countries and responsible social entrepreneurship dominates in developing countries. The determined specifics of developed and developing countries have to be taken into account during state and corporate management of social entrepreneurship’s development. The latest universal tendencies of social entrepreneurship’s development include the increase of its accessibility (reduction of entering barriers), achievement of its popularity, and emergence of a new direction in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis in 2020 – support for healthcare.