Entrepreneurship and Sustainability : Business Solutions for Poverty Alleviation from Around the World

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability challenges the notion that not-for-profit social entrepreneurship is the only sort that can lead to the alleviation of poverty. It explores how to bring commercial investors together with those who are best placed to reach the poorest customers. With case studies from around the world, the focus of the contributions is on the new breed of entrepreneurs who are blending a profit motive with a desire to make a difference in their communities and beyond borders. A significant number of the contributions here also recognize that although much research has been devoted to the issue of poverty alleviation and to struggles in developing countries, this is only part of the story. This book also focuses upon enterprise solutions to poverty in pockets of significant deprivation in high-income countries, such as in the US, in parts of Europe, and the richer Asian countries.

In Entrepreneurship and Sustainability the editors and contributors challenge the notion that not-for-profit social entrepreneurship is the only sort that can lead to the alleviation of poverty. Entrepreneurship for profit is not just about the entrepreneur doing well. Entrepreneurs worldwide are leading successful for-profit ventures which contribute to poverty alleviation in their communities. With the challenge of global poverty before them, entrepreneurs continue to develop innovative, business-oriented ventures that deliver promising solutions to this complex and urgent agenda. This book explores how to bring commercial investors together with those who are best placed to reach the poorest customers. With case studies from around the World, the focus of the contributions is on the new breed of entrepreneurs who are blending a profit motive with a desire to make a difference in their communities and beyond borders. A number of the contributions here also recognize that whilst much research has been devoted to poverty alleviation in developing countries, this is only part of the story. Studies in this volume also focus upon enterprise solutions to poverty in pockets of significant deprivation in high-income countries, such as the Appalachia region of the US, in parts of Europe, and the richer Asian countries. Much has been written about the achievements of socially orientated non-profit microfinance institutions. This valuable, academically rigorous but accessible book will help academics, policy makers, and business people consider what the next generation of more commercially orientated banks for the ''bottom billion'' might look like.