Three decades of research on social economy public policies. Further insights for government policies on cooperatives, nonprofit entities and social enterprises

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the scientific literature focused on the government policies fostering the social economy, including cooperatives and non-profit organizations, published in recent decades. For this analysis, a research matrix with heuristic capacity is used to capture the key dimensions that characterize these policies. The concept of social economy policy is addressed, along with the rationale behind the deployment of these policies and the main policy models that have been implemented. It investigates who the actors responsible for their activation and implementation are, what the main instruments of these policies are, what governance and management models they use, what organizational and institutional adaptation of social economy policies is required, how these policies should be evaluated, what factors contribute to the success or reduce the effectiveness of these social economy policies, and the continuity of these policies over time, in particular their political and financial sustainability. Finally, in light of the research already carried out, new lines of future research are proposed