Acceso usuarios
[1]
Valencia, España
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 withheuristic 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 socialeconomy 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.
This article analyses a review of the abundant literature on social economy public policies. The research, which includes cooperatives, solidarity economy, nonprofits and social enterprises in its scope of study, covers international and national studies and addresses multiple dimensions such as the policy instruments deployed and socio-political and governance dimensions. The analysis is based on an exhaustive review of the scientific literature and a research matrix based on several elements such as the objectives of these policies, their actors, the instruments used and the way these policies are evaluated. The analysis identifies problems in these policies such as, firstly, the conceptual fragmentation in relation to the field of intervention of these policies, the field of social economy, secondly, the evolution of policies from sectoral approaches based on socio-economic problems to transversal and transformative approaches, thirdly, the lack of adequate methods and indicators to evaluate these policies and, fourthly, their institutional adequacy to allow the integration of these policies into existing policies and traditional governmental structures. Risks such as the continuity of these policies, their political instrumentalisation and their vulnerability to unfavourable policies are highlighted. Finally, priority areas for future research are established, such as international comparative studies, the analysis of sustainability and institutional integration, and the design of evaluation techniques adapted to the nature of these policies.
