Understanding the hybridity of social enterprises
By taking performance, subsidization and internationalization perspectives, this thesis contributes to understanding the hybridity of social enterprises and how this hybridity drives their general operations and key decisions such as foreign market selection and targeting strategy.
Samuel Anokye Nyarko
PhD Candidate and Research Assistant
The disputation will be held digitally, because of the Corona covid-19-situation. Spectators may follow the disputation digitally – link and thesis is available below.
Samuel Anokye Nyarko at the School of Business and Law, University of Agder and the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles has submitted his thesis entitled “Essays on the Performance, Subsidization and Internationalization of Social Enterprises” and will discuss it with the assessment committee Thursday 28 April 2020.
Samuel Anokye Nyarko is a cotutelle PhD candidate, and has followed the PhD Programme at the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder.
The research has been funded by grants from Fonds Thiepolam and the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi) at the Université libre de Bruxelles and scholarship from the University of Agder.
Summary of the thesis by Samuel Anokye Nyarko:
Understanding the hybridity of social enterprises
Social enterprises are hybrid organizations that tackle societal challenges by using conventional business models.
Being hybrid organizations means that social enterprises pursue dual objectives: social (developmental) and financial.
By taking performance, subsidization and internationalization perspectives, this thesis contributes to understanding the hybridity of social enterprises and how this hybridity drives their general operations and key decisions such as foreign market selection and targeting strategy.
The four studies which comprise the thesis use data from social enterprises which are involved in microfinance business. Below is a summary of the respective studies.
The first study assesses the social performance of microfinance organizations (MFOs) based on the organizations’ own stated social mission(s).
The results show a strong coherence between stated missions and associated outcomes, suggesting that MFOs harness resources to fulfill their own stated mission rather than fulfilling some notional mission.
The implication is for policy makers and other stakeholders to acknowledge the diversity among social enterprises and judge individual organizations according to their own stated missions.
The second study examines the effect of corporate governance on the subsidization of social enterprises by distinguishing between two main types of subsidies, donations and concessional loans.
The findings suggest that whereas there is a positive relationship between the level of subsidies from concessional loans and governance, the level of donations is insensitive to governance.
The third study investigates the relationship between gender discrimination and microfinance outreach to women and tests the moderating effect of an international founder.
According to the results, microfinance outreach to women is low in contexts where women face much discrimination.
The negative effect of gender discrimination on outreach to women is moderated by an international founder.
These findings suggest that MFIs may require foreign support to effectively supply banking services to women in patriarchal societies.
The final study investigates social enterprises' international market selection decision based on host countries’ macroeconomic conditions.
The findings show that the international market selection decision of social enterprises is tied to their hybridity. Thus, social enterprises expand into countries where they can balance their social and financial objectives.
Disputation facts:
Kandidaten: Samuel Anokye Nyarko (1989; Ajumako - Baa, Central Region, Ghana) Bachelor’s degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Master’s degree from the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. Master thesis: The influence of international ownership on the performance of microfinance institutions (2016). Qualified Accountant with certification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG). Present position: PhD candidate and Research Assistant at the Department of Management at the University of Agder.
The trial lecture and the public defence will take place in internet (link below), Thursday 23 April 2020. Head of the Department of Management, Associate Professor Bjørn-Tore Flåten, will chair the disputation.
Trial lecture at 2:00 p.m.
Public defense at 3:00 p.m.
Given topic for trial lecture: «Trust and Gender in Microfinance»
Thesis Title: “Essays on the Performance, Subsidization and Internationalization of Social Enterprises”
Search for the thesis in AURA - Agder University Research Archive, a digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder.
Opponents:
First opponent: Professor Tyler Wry, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Second opponent: Professor Anastasia Cozarenco, Montpellier Business School, France
Professor Lars Oxelheim, Department of Economics and Finance, University of Agder, is appointed as the administrator for the assessment commitee.
Supervisors were Professor Roy Mersland, University of Agder and Professor Ariane Szafarz, Université libre de Bruxelles.
What to do as an audience member:
We ask audience members to join the virtual trial lecture at 1:55 p.m. at the earliest and the public defense at 2:55 p.m. at the earliest. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time. Further, we ask audience members to turn off their microphone and camera and keep them turned off throughout the event. You do this at the bottom left of the image when in Zoom. We recommend you use ‘Speaker view’. You select that at the top right corner of the video window when in Zoom.
Opponent ex auditorio: The chair invites members of the public to pose questions ex auditorio in the introduction to the public defense, with deadlines. Questions can be submitted to the chairBjørn-Tore Flåten at e-mail https://www.uia.no/kk/profil/bjorntf.
The thesis is available here: https://uia.brage.unit.no/uia-xmlui/handle/11250/2655387