Incorporating Social Enterprise Governance
Dr. Alina S. Ball
Associate Professor – UC Hastings College Of Law – California University – USA
Abstract:
The social enterprise movement has ushered in a promising new wave of companies using market-based strategies to advance social and environmental change. The longevity and growth of social enterprises will be determined by their ability to balance the complex and often competing interests within these unique business entities. This Article argues that the benefit reporting requirements in hybrid-corporation statutes in the United States offer an innovative mechanism for encouraging and maintaining good social enterprise governance. Using the benefit reporting requirements within hybrid-corporation statutes as a model, this Article provides a normative framework and establishes the implementation principles for social enterprise governance across various legal entities. By counseling social enterprises on how to promote participatory democracy and increase the company’s capacity to detect and address problems, corporate lawyers can serve a critical function in developing social enterprise governance.