Purpose – This paper seeks to pinpoint the role played by social enterprises in the growth and mainstreaming of fair trade. Design/methodology/approach – The review encompasses seminal papers on the growth and mainstreaming of fair trade. Findings – A crucial role is played by social...

Purpose – This article aims to explore the role of organisational legitimacy in understanding the emergence and development of “cross‐sector collaboration” between social enterprises and corporations. Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth case study of a long‐standing but...

The issue of surplus distribution has hardly been analyzed in the context of the social economy. This paper highlights the main drivers of distribution between various stakeholders of microfinance institutions (MFIs), which are an example of social enterprises. We focus on three major variables:...

Although microfinance organizations are generally considered as inherently ethical, recent events have challenged the legitimacy of the sector. High interest rates and the excessive profitability of some market leaders have raised the question of how to define a fair profit level for social...