The yin and yang: Utility and reform perspectives on social impact in social entrepreneurship research

Abstract

Positive social impact is the aspirational raison d'être of social entrepreneurship, driving its mission and actions, yet it remains theoretically ambiguous across the academic literature. This systematic integrative review identifies two distinct perspectives through which social impact is theorized in social entrepreneurship research: social impact as utility and social impact as reform. The former adheres to a functionalist paradigm rooted in economics and conceptualizes social impact as changes in social utility through the mobilization of capital, whereas the latter aligns with an interpretivist paradigm rooted in sociology and conceptualizes social impact as the reform of social systems through the mobilization of agency. By examining the outcomes and mechanisms of social impact associated with each perspective, we develop a multilevel organizing framework that clarifies and synthesizes the extant literature, while laying the groundwork for a programmatic theory of social impact.