ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses specifically on the role of economic calculation in "social entrepreneurship". As the name implies, the significance of social entrepreneurship lies in its "social" meaning. Social entrepreneurship is variously and sometimes vaguely defined, and its use in social science can be inconsistent with its legal meaning or with the ways it is understood by many real-world social entrepreneurs. In practice, social entrepreneurs use business ventures to directly and indirectly transform disadvantaged or marginalized communities, especially those affected by low levels of education and high levels of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, or even injustice. Like traditional entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs use judgment to allocate scarce resources in the face of uncertainty. Social entrepreneurs need to know the value of the alternative uses of scarce resources. Social entrepreneurs are subject to the profit and loss test in competitive markets, they must allow consumer satisfaction to guide their decisions.
