Regional Formation and Development Studies

Social entrepreneurship is an important component of the European social market economy that is based on the principles of solidarity and responsibility and the priorities regarding the individual and social goals; it promotes social responsibility and social inclusion. However, in practice, social enterprises face various problems that negatively affect their competitiveness. The present research has set an aim to examine the competitiveness of social entrepreneurship in Latvia. To achieve the aim, a case study was carried out to identify the factors affecting the competitiveness of social entrepreneurship and its competitive advantages and disadvantages in comparison with conventional enterprises. The research found that the key competitive advantages of social entrepreneurship were the story told by social enterprises and their employee motivation, while the negative effects regarding competitiveness were as follows: the lack of government support for social entrepreneurship, insufficient information in society about social entrepreneurship and the social value created by it, as well as various other factors in the internal environment of an enterprise.