1.1 Aims of the doctoral thesis

This doctoral thesis comprises a socio-legal study, which aims to develop a fundamental understanding of participatory governance structures in tailor-made legal forms for social enterprises in the EU.1 In the study, a comparison is presented of the manner in which three selected EU jurisdictions, i.e. Greece, Belgium, and the UK, provide tailor-made legal forms for social enterprises, and in particular how such legal forms shape and structure stakeholder participation in the governance of the social enterprises. Subsequently, an assessment is conducted into the question how the legal provisions on stakeholder participation (in the selected legal forms) are implemented in practice by social enterprises.

This doctoral thesis is divided into a legal research part and an empirical research part. The legal research examines and compares the legal provisions of three selected tailor-made legal forms. This research aims in the first place to provide a systematic exposition and an explanation of the legal rules, provisions and principles provided for social enterprises in the three selected tailor-made legal forms. The three examined legal forms are: (i) the Vennootschap met Sociaal Oogmerk (the Belgian term for the Company with a Social Purpose – hereafter the ‘VSO’) in Belgium; (ii) the Κοινωνική Συνεταιριστική Επιχείρηση (the Greek term for the Social Cooperative Enterprise – hereafter the ‘Koinsep’) in Greece; and (iii) the Company Interest Company (hereafter the ‘CIC’) in the UK. The selection of these three legal forms is explained in the methodology part which is contained in Sub-section 2.3 of Chapter 2. In the second place, a legal comparison is undertaken to demonstrate the similarities and differences of the selected tailor-made legal forms in relation to certain legal variables. These legal variables are: (i) the social purpose of the social enterprise; (ii) the participatory governance structure, i.e. stakeholder participation in the governance structure; (iii) the accountability and responsibility of the social enterprise to its stakeholders; and finally (iv) the financial structure of the social enterprise. The selection of these legal variables is also explained in Chapter 2.

This doctoral thesis further exhibits, mainly in Chapter 3, the empirical research concerning the effect and the effectiveness of the tailor-made legal provisions concerning stakeholder participation on the governance of social enterprises. In this empirical part, it is examined how the legal provisions concerning stakeholder participation in the governance of social enterprises are implemented in practice. Accordingly, this part aims to demonstrate the regulatory complexities in the implementation of the selected tailor-made laws in relation to the area of participatory governance of social enterprises. More specifically, the research illustrates: (i) the functioning of governance in social enterprises that employ the examined tailor-made legal forms; (ii) the effect that the practical implementation of participatory governance provisions may exert on these social enterprises; and (iii) the effectiveness of the legal provisions concerning stakeholder participation in the governance of these social enterprises, i.e. to what extent stakeholders are included in the examined social enterprises’ decision-making processes.

To that end, the empirical research comprises in total nine qualitative case studies. In each of the three selected jurisdictions, i.e. in Belgium, Greece and in the UK, three case studies were performed to assess social enterprises established in accordance with the tailor-made laws of that jurisdiction. Subsequently, a cross-case analysis and a meta-synthesis of the results derived from the case studies elaborate on and discuss the aggregate results from the case studies.

The examination of stakeholder participation in the governance of social enterprises is extended for illustrative purposes to one selected jurisdiction that does not provide a tailor-made legal framework to social enterprises, namely the Netherlands. In Chapter 4, survey-based findings are presented concerning stakeholder participation in Dutch social enterprises.

In addition, I must also explain that this doctoral thesis is article-based. The Chapters comprise some unpublished articles and some peer-reviewed articles that are published or accepted for publication in academic journals or books. The published articles, particularly those included in Chapter 3, have been edited and modified to a limited degree, i.e. only in order to be presented in this doctoral thesis in such a manner that they can contribute to the comparison of all case studies in the meta-synthesis in Sub-section 3.6. The editing entailed: (i) the removal of an introductory part of a published case study if this could be considered repetitive in view of the other case studies exhibited in Sub-section 3.1; (ii) the arrangement of citations to footnotes in the case studies and the application of similar styling rules; (iii) the insertion of comparable tables containing the research results in the case studies presented in Sub-sections 3.1 and 3.2; (iv) a slight modification of the original titles of particular sections in Sub-sections 3.1 and 3.2 in pursuance of creating a similar structure in all case studies; and (v) the correction of identified typographical errors and misprints. The publication details of each of the articles are duly provided in the corresponding Sub-sections.

Concisely, Chapter 1 introduces the objectives, the research question to which this doctoral thesis attempts to respond, and the methods that are employed in response to the research question. It also illustrates the main concepts discussed, i.e. the social enterprise concept, the concept of tailor-made legal forms for social enterprises, and the concept of stakeholder participation in the governance of social enterprises. Chapter 2 comprises an introduction to, and a comparison of, tailor-made legal forms and participatory governance structures for social enterprises in three selected jurisdictions, i.e. in Belgium, Greece, and in the UK. Subsequently, Chapter 3 examines how tailor-made national legal provisions concerning stakeholder participation are implemented in practice by social enterprises employing the selected legal forms in the three selected countries. The examination is accomplished by a comparison and a meta-synthesis of findings derived from nine qualitative case studies. For illustrative purposes, Chapter 4 extends the discussion concerning participatory governance structures for social enterprises in one exemplary jurisdiction without tailor-made legislation for social enterprises, i.e. the Netherlands. This Chapter illustrates and discusses survey data collected from Dutch social enterprises regarding the participation and involvement of stakeholders in the governance of Dutch social enterprises. Finally, I present my conclusions and recommendations in Chapter 5.