TY - JOUR
T1 - Roles of Accounting for the Contested Terrain of Social Enterprises
AU - Mäkelä, Hannele
N1 - Funding Information:
I am thankful for the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for detailed comments on the manuscript. I also gratefully acknowledge the comments provided by Matias Laine and the participants of the RESPMAN Research Seminar. This work was supported by the University of Tampere Institute for Advanced Social Research; the Foundation for Economic Education; Säätiöiden post doc -pooli (the Foundations’ Post Doc Pool); and the Academy of Finland research grant (decision no. 324215).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Social enterprises are organisations that employ commercial strategies to deliver societal impact, rather than shareholder value, and may play an important role in the transition to a more socially sustainable society. However, social entrepreneurship has become a contested terrain due to its ambiguous identity and ideology. This study maintains that accounting plays a role in the development of social enterprises due to its ability to shape the domain of economic operation. Using interview data obtained from the key actors in Finland, this study identifies and analyses perceptions of the roles of accounting for social enterprises. Overall, the study highlights the ambiguities related to accounting for social enterprises and draws attention to the plural roles of accounting. It encourages opening up the processes of defining the principles and tools for accounting for social enterprises, arguing that such decisions may have broader organisational and societal implications.
AB - Social enterprises are organisations that employ commercial strategies to deliver societal impact, rather than shareholder value, and may play an important role in the transition to a more socially sustainable society. However, social entrepreneurship has become a contested terrain due to its ambiguous identity and ideology. This study maintains that accounting plays a role in the development of social enterprises due to its ability to shape the domain of economic operation. Using interview data obtained from the key actors in Finland, this study identifies and analyses perceptions of the roles of accounting for social enterprises. Overall, the study highlights the ambiguities related to accounting for social enterprises and draws attention to the plural roles of accounting. It encourages opening up the processes of defining the principles and tools for accounting for social enterprises, arguing that such decisions may have broader organisational and societal implications.
U2 - 10.1080/0969160X.2021.1872397
DO - 10.1080/0969160X.2021.1872397
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099453978
SN - 0969-160X
VL - 41
SP - 150
EP - 171
JO - Social and Environmental Accountability Journal
JF - Social and Environmental Accountability Journal
IS - 3
ER -