Cities and social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship research remains largely conceptual and qualitative, which makes the comparisons with profit-seeking entrepreneurship difficult. This paper is an attempt to fill in this empirical divide. As such, we perform a statistical study of the characteristics of the social entrepreneurial city. Using a nationwide dataset on social venturing at the city level in France, and given the scarcity of labeled social ventures in the country, we define a social entrepreneurial city as one that count at least one of such firms. Our statistical analysis reveals that the social entrepreneurial city shares many common points with the entrepreneurial city: it is a large city, and with a diversified economy. There are also some major differences, as we find that social entrepreneurship emerges in places lacking of creative arts and entertainment options, and where the activity rate is low.