Recently, the concept of the social economy has made its way both in the resolutions and recommendations of major international institutions (ILO, UN, OECD, Council of the European Union) and in the policies of national governments and the European Commission itself. This growing attention calls for an analysis of the specificities of the sector in various respects, including its legal forms, the regulation to which it is subject, governance and management arrangements, and support policies, taking into account that the policies still prevailing today are modeled on the capital enterprise. The paper aims to contribute to this analysis, in the belief that the social economy has great potential to be expressed in addressing issues such as the weakening of social cohesion, the equitable management of the ecological transition, or the regeneration of decent jobs. Without neglecting the even less investigated aspect of its civic value, that is, the ways in which the social economy fosters participation in public life.

The Working Paper is in italian

JEL Codes

D02; L31; M14; O35; P13; J54