This policy brief proposes a tax credit with related qualifying conditions that address the serio... more This policy brief proposes a tax credit with related qualifying conditions that address the serious deficiencies related to abuse and neglect found in the current for-profit long-term care space. It also seeks to address the lack of government accountability for huge outlays of taxpayer dollars in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments to these facilities, much of which results in maximizing profits for wealthy investors at the expense of vulnerable individuals with limited voice. Our proposed policy arrangement alters the organizational DNA of the for-profit organization, including the moderation of profit, to circumvent the existing financial incentives that are driving the mistreatment and malpractice so evident in the system. It aims to achieve this through four policy components including social financing, a sliding dividend cap, employee-ownership, and limits on complex corporate structures which are tied to a tax credit. This multi-faceted policy idea is intended to start...
In this Special Issue, we hope to reframe the conversation about context and bring back context t... more In this Special Issue, we hope to reframe the conversation about context and bring back context to the front and centre of our way of knowing and theorizing in the field of social entrepreneurship. We philosophize about context and then propose a typology of context in the field of social entrepreneurship (broadly defined) and identify domains of context that constitute existing and fertile areas for future research. We reflect on the six papers in this special issue in relation to our context typology and conclude with several points about their novel contributions to theory, practice and policy in social entrepreneurship.
and Argentina, provides a fascinating study into the behind-thescenes role of local and national ... more and Argentina, provides a fascinating study into the behind-thescenes role of local and national NGOs in the process of democratization. Drawing on 103 field interviews and five meetings with NGO representatives across three countries, Fisher fills in the details of NGO work in this area that have long been missing from our picture of civil society and its participation in direct democracy-building. She looks in particular at how these organizations are drawing on both imported and indigenous democratic ideas and traditions. She is adept at not only capturing the successful and unsuccessful stories in this arena but also at making crucial connections across civil society democratization efforts and the states they are attempting to influence. Fisher approaches discussions on each of the countries by first setting the stage with chapters devoted to an overview of the nation's history, politics, and civil society. These introductory chapters speak to her appreciation of the importance of context for democratization NGOs, a theme that runs throughout the book. These chapters are followed by two chapters for each country on the role of civil society. Specifically they examine how civil society supports democratization through nurturing a democratic political culture, deepening political participation, and building a loyal opposition and law-based civil liberties. In the case of Argentina she also includes how civil society strengthens the state. Each of these topics is explored in-depth by drawing on interviews and Internet and literature searches for the three countries. These chapters lay the groundwork and provide the qualitative evidence for two chapters at the end of the book where Fisher compares the experience of democratization NGOs across the different countries and then pulls out specific findings based on this comparison. Indeed, in many ways the real value of the book is in the discussion and findings that Fisher relates in the last two chapters: Conclusions and International Implications and Recommendations. She states up front in the Conclusions chapter that, "the fate of democratization ultimately depends on the state, on civil society, and on the relationship between them" (p. 277). She then proceeds to illustrate this connection along with the ailments that can beset
The fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe raised the complex question of how social service... more The fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe raised the complex question of how social services were to be distributed and administered in countries with legacies of highly centralized states. When Poland underwent a series of reforms to modify and decentralize social service programs, long-held and clearly specified reform goals were undermined from the very outset. In this carefully argued study, Janelle A. Kerlin demonstrates how and why reforms, intended to improve services and increase citizen participation in social service programming, largely failed to meet expected goals. The politics of reform development - including political deals, exclusionary tactics, and hidden maneuvering by Polish policymakers - prevented any significant upgrade of services or real change in decision-making structures. Conflicting ideologies and pressures on policy actors stemming from historical, institutional, political, and international sources often resulted in compromises that led to unfavo...
This paper examines the development of social enterprises in China to better understand social en... more This paper examines the development of social enterprises in China to better understand social enterprise as institutional innovation and challenge aspects of the theory of institutional isomorphism. Drawing on 29 in-person surveys of nonprofit social enterprises in Shanghai, this paper shows that, while institutional isomorphic pressures are present as an important mechanism that assists in the legitimization of social enterprises, institutional innovation in the broader organizational field is occurring. In the process, it challenges several assumptions inherent in DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) theory of institutional isomorphism and opens new insights for needed social innovation on an organizational level in developing countries.
ABSTRACT This study conducts a comparative analysis of social enterprise intermediaries in China ... more ABSTRACT This study conducts a comparative analysis of social enterprise intermediaries in China and India to better understand how they legitimize social enterprises in new settings. To address theoretical weakness in this sphere, it combines several institutional theories to capture disruptions created by institutional innovation and also legitimizing processes. Drawing on data collected from surveys, interviews, and websites in each country, it finds that intermediaries mitigate negative and leverage positive influences of external institutions though their strategies vary due to country differences in institutional pressures. This information is key to building intermediaries’ capacity to institutionalize social enterprises as new institutional actors.
Drawing on Oliver’s (1991) work, this study aims to explain why social enterprise as an instituti... more Drawing on Oliver’s (1991) work, this study aims to explain why social enterprise as an institutional innovation can occur in environments with high isomorphic pressures against its establishment a...
PurposeThis paper aims to improve upon the initial quantitative assessment of Kerlin’s macro-inst... more PurposeThis paper aims to improve upon the initial quantitative assessment of Kerlin’s macro-institutional social enterprise (MISE) framework (Monroe-White et al., 2015) to test for the effect of country-level institutions on the social enterprise sector. Major improvements are the inclusion of the civil society variable and expansion of the culture component in the analysis.Design/methodology/approachBy following Kerlin’s (2013) original work that draws on the theory of historical institutionalism, this paper employs multi-level regression analysis to test the effect of country-level institutional factors on organizational-level social enterprise across countries. This analysis uses new macro-level data specifically for civil society and culture components.FindingsThe initial assessment of the framework found that several country-level factors had a significant effect on the variance in the size of the social enterprise sector across countries. The analysis provided here additional...
This policy brief proposes a tax credit with related qualifying conditions that address the serio... more This policy brief proposes a tax credit with related qualifying conditions that address the serious deficiencies related to abuse and neglect found in the current for-profit long-term care space. It also seeks to address the lack of government accountability for huge outlays of taxpayer dollars in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments to these facilities, much of which results in maximizing profits for wealthy investors at the expense of vulnerable individuals with limited voice. Our proposed policy arrangement alters the organizational DNA of the for-profit organization, including the moderation of profit, to circumvent the existing financial incentives that are driving the mistreatment and malpractice so evident in the system. It aims to achieve this through four policy components including social financing, a sliding dividend cap, employee-ownership, and limits on complex corporate structures which are tied to a tax credit. This multi-faceted policy idea is intended to start...
In this Special Issue, we hope to reframe the conversation about context and bring back context t... more In this Special Issue, we hope to reframe the conversation about context and bring back context to the front and centre of our way of knowing and theorizing in the field of social entrepreneurship. We philosophize about context and then propose a typology of context in the field of social entrepreneurship (broadly defined) and identify domains of context that constitute existing and fertile areas for future research. We reflect on the six papers in this special issue in relation to our context typology and conclude with several points about their novel contributions to theory, practice and policy in social entrepreneurship.
and Argentina, provides a fascinating study into the behind-thescenes role of local and national ... more and Argentina, provides a fascinating study into the behind-thescenes role of local and national NGOs in the process of democratization. Drawing on 103 field interviews and five meetings with NGO representatives across three countries, Fisher fills in the details of NGO work in this area that have long been missing from our picture of civil society and its participation in direct democracy-building. She looks in particular at how these organizations are drawing on both imported and indigenous democratic ideas and traditions. She is adept at not only capturing the successful and unsuccessful stories in this arena but also at making crucial connections across civil society democratization efforts and the states they are attempting to influence. Fisher approaches discussions on each of the countries by first setting the stage with chapters devoted to an overview of the nation's history, politics, and civil society. These introductory chapters speak to her appreciation of the importance of context for democratization NGOs, a theme that runs throughout the book. These chapters are followed by two chapters for each country on the role of civil society. Specifically they examine how civil society supports democratization through nurturing a democratic political culture, deepening political participation, and building a loyal opposition and law-based civil liberties. In the case of Argentina she also includes how civil society strengthens the state. Each of these topics is explored in-depth by drawing on interviews and Internet and literature searches for the three countries. These chapters lay the groundwork and provide the qualitative evidence for two chapters at the end of the book where Fisher compares the experience of democratization NGOs across the different countries and then pulls out specific findings based on this comparison. Indeed, in many ways the real value of the book is in the discussion and findings that Fisher relates in the last two chapters: Conclusions and International Implications and Recommendations. She states up front in the Conclusions chapter that, "the fate of democratization ultimately depends on the state, on civil society, and on the relationship between them" (p. 277). She then proceeds to illustrate this connection along with the ailments that can beset
The fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe raised the complex question of how social service... more The fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe raised the complex question of how social services were to be distributed and administered in countries with legacies of highly centralized states. When Poland underwent a series of reforms to modify and decentralize social service programs, long-held and clearly specified reform goals were undermined from the very outset. In this carefully argued study, Janelle A. Kerlin demonstrates how and why reforms, intended to improve services and increase citizen participation in social service programming, largely failed to meet expected goals. The politics of reform development - including political deals, exclusionary tactics, and hidden maneuvering by Polish policymakers - prevented any significant upgrade of services or real change in decision-making structures. Conflicting ideologies and pressures on policy actors stemming from historical, institutional, political, and international sources often resulted in compromises that led to unfavo...
This paper examines the development of social enterprises in China to better understand social en... more This paper examines the development of social enterprises in China to better understand social enterprise as institutional innovation and challenge aspects of the theory of institutional isomorphism. Drawing on 29 in-person surveys of nonprofit social enterprises in Shanghai, this paper shows that, while institutional isomorphic pressures are present as an important mechanism that assists in the legitimization of social enterprises, institutional innovation in the broader organizational field is occurring. In the process, it challenges several assumptions inherent in DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) theory of institutional isomorphism and opens new insights for needed social innovation on an organizational level in developing countries.
ABSTRACT This study conducts a comparative analysis of social enterprise intermediaries in China ... more ABSTRACT This study conducts a comparative analysis of social enterprise intermediaries in China and India to better understand how they legitimize social enterprises in new settings. To address theoretical weakness in this sphere, it combines several institutional theories to capture disruptions created by institutional innovation and also legitimizing processes. Drawing on data collected from surveys, interviews, and websites in each country, it finds that intermediaries mitigate negative and leverage positive influences of external institutions though their strategies vary due to country differences in institutional pressures. This information is key to building intermediaries’ capacity to institutionalize social enterprises as new institutional actors.
Drawing on Oliver’s (1991) work, this study aims to explain why social enterprise as an instituti... more Drawing on Oliver’s (1991) work, this study aims to explain why social enterprise as an institutional innovation can occur in environments with high isomorphic pressures against its establishment a...
PurposeThis paper aims to improve upon the initial quantitative assessment of Kerlin’s macro-inst... more PurposeThis paper aims to improve upon the initial quantitative assessment of Kerlin’s macro-institutional social enterprise (MISE) framework (Monroe-White et al., 2015) to test for the effect of country-level institutions on the social enterprise sector. Major improvements are the inclusion of the civil society variable and expansion of the culture component in the analysis.Design/methodology/approachBy following Kerlin’s (2013) original work that draws on the theory of historical institutionalism, this paper employs multi-level regression analysis to test the effect of country-level institutional factors on organizational-level social enterprise across countries. This analysis uses new macro-level data specifically for civil society and culture components.FindingsThe initial assessment of the framework found that several country-level factors had a significant effect on the variance in the size of the social enterprise sector across countries. The analysis provided here additional...
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Papers by Janelle Kerlin