Social entrepreneurship in Serbia: The state of play

Abstract

This paper takes stock at key policy issues underpinning the development of social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Serbia. It consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 provides the general context of the paper. It sets out the general policy context and discusses the roots of social entrepreneurship in Serbia, as well as the perceived policy factors which have facilitated its development in the last decade. The general findings of the first official survey on social enterprises in Serbia are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter 2 examines the legal framework governing or impacting on social entrepreneurship. It first provides a critical overview of the framework regulation for enterprises for employment and professional rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, civil society organisations (CSOs) and social cooperatives, respectively. Thereafter, it proceeds with the analyses of pertinent tax law and the legal framework for public financing of CSOs, as well as the legal and policy framework for social service provision. An analysis of the legal framework for volunteers concludes this chapter. Chapter 3 presents the results of the first pilot survey on social enterprises in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Vajdaság Autonóm Tar-tomány), which was conducted in 2016. Conclusions on the state of play of social entrepreneurship in Serbia, including measures which could conceivably facilitate its further development, are presented in Chapter 4.