Can Cross-Sector Support Help Social Enterprises in Legitimacy Building? The Mixed Effects in Hong Kong

Authors

  • Ming Ma Nanjing School of Administration
  • Yi Kang Hong Kong Baptist University
  • Yuyan Feng Hong Kong Baptist University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20899/jpna.8.3.375-398

Keywords:

Social Enterprise, Legitimacy, Institutional Pressures, Cross-Sector Collaboration, Metagovernance

Abstract

Cross-sector collaboration is widely considered beneficial for the sustainable development of social enterprises (SEs). This study provides a nuanced assessment of the impacts of cross-sector collaboration in supporting SE development (cross-sector support; CSS) by highlighting legitimacy building as the crucial goal for SEs in achieving sustainability. Studying Hong Kong, we examine the institutional pressures confronting SEs in their legitimacy building, their efforts to respond, and the role of CSS therein. Data from surveys and in-depth interviews show that the three key types of CSS—venture capital, operational, and promotional—have mixed effects on the efforts of SEs to cope with the various institutional pressures. Our findings suggest the necessity of an integrated blend of governance styles—a metagovernance approach—in shaping and guiding CSS of SEs and an approach that is sensitive to the plural, changing pressures in SE entrepreneurial processes to achieve financial sustainability as well as social legitimacy.

Author Biographies

Ming Ma, Nanjing School of Administration

Ming Ma is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Nanjing School of Administration, 190 Lingshan North Road, Jiangsu, China. He received his PhD in government and international studies from Hong Kong Baptist University (maming@life.hkbu.edu.hk).

Yi Kang, Hong Kong Baptist University

Yi Kang is Associate Professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, Academic and Administration Building, Baptist University Road Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR. She received her PhD in political science from Yale University. She is author of Disaster Management in China in a Changing Era (2015). She has published articles in Journal of Contemporary China, China Information, China Review, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, etc. (yikang@hkbu.edu.hk).

Yuyan Feng, Hong Kong Baptist University

Yuyan Feng is a student of the Master of Public Administration Programme at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her current research interests include cross sector collaboration, institutional theory, and philanthropic organizations (18448046@life.hkbu.edu.hk).

Downloads

Published

2022-10-24

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 3 (2022)

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
     
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional, contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see, The Effect of Open Access).