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This book empirically addresses social enterprises, which have developed in various countries since 1990. It analyzes the differences between Japan and South Korea regarding the ecosystem and the mechanisms that give rise to these differences.
 
In both Japan and South Korea, the concept of social enterprise was imported from other countries and spread in the early 2000s. However, the institutionalization and diffusion of social enterprises differ significantly between the two countries.
 
Specific differences in social enterprises are evident in their overall shape in terms of “scale and visibility,” “areas of activity,” and “official government involvement.” First, the number of social enterprises and how the mass media covers them differ between Japan and South Korea. Second, while Korea focuses more on vocation-related services, such as job creation, Japan's service sector, including education and welfare, is relatively large. Third, in South Korea, social enterprises have been consistently incorporated into government policies to create employment and there is strong support for them, whereas in Japan, the government's official involvement with social enterprises is limited.
 
This book presents research findings based on comparable careers, social networks, and policy data from the perspectives of economic sociology and social policy theories. We collected and analyzed data on individual social enterprises and explained them from the perspectives of economic sociology and social policy theories.
 
For example, we elucidated the similarities and differences between Japan and South Korea regarding the specific activities of social enterprises based on questionnaire data from individual organizations. While social enterprises in both countries continue their activities by utilizing social capital in the social and economic sectors, the results show that public and institutional connections are more critical in South Korea, whereas informal connections, such as those with relatives, are relatively more important in Japan.
 
The key to understanding the factors resulting in differences in the activities of social enterprises is "embeddedness in social structure," which is emphasized in economic sociology. For instance, the ease of becoming self-employed and the level of social security benefits can affect the establishment and action patterns of social enterprises. For example, the ease of becoming self-employed in South Korea could impact the ease of promoting collective entrepreneurship by creating employment opportunities, including social enterprises. Entrepreneurial methods are actively incorporated into employment support in South Korea. In addition, due to differences in the maturity of basic social security systems, in South Korea, social enterprises are active in fields related to traditional social risks, such as income security (job creation), while in Japan, basic living needs are covered by social security and other systems. Social enterprises are becoming more specialized in dealing with new social risks that are difficult to address using existing social security systems.
 
The findings in this book not only promote the understanding and practice of social enterprises but also provide suggestions for comparative research on future livelihood security systems in Japan and South Korea. Social enterprises are an alternative to welfare state-style social security systems for solving social problems. Understanding how they have taken root and expanded in both countries contributes to understanding other alternatives such as universal basic income and the online gig economy.
 

(Written by YONEZAWA Akira, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2024)