Creating opportunities: social entrepreneurship and disability employment

Abstract

There are few studies on the social entrepreneurship of poor people meant to generate income for themselves and simultaneously to solve the problems of other poor people. This paper presents a significant study of eight cases of social entrepreneurship among people with disabilities in Vietnam. The results demonstrate that having a disability is merely a constrained element of human capital, and entrepreneurial activities are based on exploring and developing other elements beyond the constrained element, such as developing particular skills and capabilities. Moreover, this paper conducts a practical comparative analysis of six additional cases of social entrepreneurship among non-disabled individuals in Japan. The research findings underscore the significant potential of social entrepreneurship, when adopted by any company, to create job opportunities for people with disabilities. Establishing inclusive work environments or providing support tools mitigates the impact of disabilities as constrained elements and fosters the development of other less affected elements.