Social Entrepreneurship in Korea Research Analysis: A Review of the English Literature

The publishing of research on social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in Korea began in 2002 and has grown in scope and quantity. This research reviews 21 papers on Korean social entrepreneurship that have been published in English in the academic literature to date. The goal of this study is to provide Korean scholars, social entrepreneurs and policy makers information on basic patterns, trends and characteristics of social enterprises in Korea. Findings show almost all papers were published only after the Korean government enacted laws governing social enterprises in 2006. In addition, the majority of the extant research is qualitative in nature and based on the existing literature. Finally, three relatively distinct definitions for social enterprises were used by literature authors to set the scope and direction of their work.