| Abstract |
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of hybrid organisations that are unique for combining the aspects typical of different sectors. Some of them are also known as social enterprises, which mix the elements of the nonprofit and for-profit world. The organisations aim to fulfil their social or environmental mission while doing business activities and generate their revenues to achieve their mission. The business practices help them to obtain new financial resources and sustain their goal in the long-term or even increase their impact in solving specific social issues thanks to the additional finances (e.g. employing those who could not easily find a job). Certain researches also describe social enterprises as those creating new social innovations. Though the phenomenon becomes popular worldwide, the development of social entrepreneurship in eastern Europe is still in its infancy. In the Czech Republic, there is no legal framework regulating social enterprises, nor efficient incentives for their support. In the unknown space, it is, therefore, possible that social enterprises could evolve differently than in the countries of long tradition and support for social entrepreneurship. The paper aims to shed light on what is the theoretical concept and current practice in eastern Europe, more specifically in the Czech Republic. The description of the current state supplemented by the data of Czech social enterprises will be put in the context to the findings of the relevant foreign literature and compared. Based on this research, the policy recommendation for public authorities in the field of social policy will be suggested. |