"The Global State of Social Enterprise report examines the transformative role that social enterprises play in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges. At a time when the world is grappling with unprecedented social, environmental and economic issues, the scope and scale of social enterprises are under- recognized while their contributions have never been more critical."

"The diversity-led organizations, that are more often addressing equity-deserving communities, received philanthropic support three times less often, and support from less funders than the conventional-led organizations. These results demonstrate that environmental philanthropy in Canada favors a large set of established organizations and perpetuates a landscape of exclusion for diversity-led organizations working on the low-carbon energy transition. By perpetuating disparities through funding, philanthropy is reinforcing inequities among marginalized communities. This in turn is setting back the progress of equity in low-carbon energy transitions in Canada."

"Holding several factors constant, we conclude that receiving continuous loans from ACME had some positive effects on Haitian businesses. We find a positive impact on business expansion through various outcomes. Compared to new clients, firms that had completed at least three loan cycles had a higher probability of hiring new workers in 2018 and of increasing their merchandise stock. They also reported higher profits and savings. The results also highlight the gender-differentiated impact of microloans on businesses. Although ACME loans are critical in helping women open new outlets, the outcomes of increasing stock and adding new services are found only among male-owned businesses."

"The necessity to mobilize capital on a localized or regionalized basis has been labeled Place-Based Impact Investing. This article will review the research and conclusions that have fueled the need for Place-Based Impact Investing, identify the current thought leaders, and describe some of the early efforts at mobilizing "legacy capital" into communities to support the growing but underfunded innovative companies. We also will explore some of the new methods, vehicles, and overlooked tax laws that can accelerate the mobilization of capital on a more geographic and meritocratic manner."

Extant research results illustrate that women are roughly half as likely to become entrepreneurs as men (Kauffman Compilation: Research on Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2016). However, women may see themselves fit in traditionally male jobs when the language used in the job advertisement is communal in nature (Gaucher, 2011), and vice versa. To empirically test this idea, the authors first sought to understand if there were any gender biases in the accelerators’ calls for applications using a validated scale of masculine and feminine words. They found a higher percentage of feminine words across most regions, which is in the opposite direction of what was expected. Second, the authors manipulated the language used in an accelerator program call for application (1) with the percentage of gendered words found from the accelerators on the ANDE list (3-4%) and (2) an exaggerated percentage of gendered words (9%), to see how it affected women and men’s perceptions of the accelerator program. In general, men in the U.S. express high entrepreneurial fit, sense of belonging, and application success possibly because the U.S. is high on both individualism and masculinity on Hoefstede’s country culture dimensions. However, women in Latin America report results that are opposite to men in the United States.

"Salaried wage jobs are the distinguishing feature separating the middle class from the poor in
developing countries (Banerjee and Duflo 2008). Where do salaried wage jobs come from, and
how can small and medium-sized firms create more of them? We review the evidence on
constraints to growth of small and medium enterprises. We first examine evidence on
constraints to capital and skilled labor, firms’ primary inputs to production. We then consider
factors that affect the efficiency with which firms are able to transform inputs into outputs,
focusing on managerial talent. Finally, we look at the importance of linking firms to markets
and the role of demand in generating firm growth. We conclude with a proposal for a research
agenda built around important but unanswered questions. "

"Download this study to learn about:
- The experience of the United States, Europe and other countries in channeling more than $2.2 billion in gender lens investing.
- The gaps and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean to attract international investors.
- Success stories of companies in Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Brazil that are leading this trend."

"Are women less likely to ask for help financing their businesses? This study investigates whether gender is a factor that impacts the propensity to ask for financing among nascent entrepreneurs. We also investigate if start-up helpers, who do not have an ownership share, have an impact on the likelihood of asking for financing, specifically between men and women. Our findings suggest that being female significantly decreases the probability of asking for financing and the presence of start-up helpers significantly increases the incidence of asking for financing in the nascent stage. In addition, among those who created new firms or were still in the start-up process, the number of start-up helpers exponentially increased the incidence of asking for financing among female founders. We use the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II data, the largest, nationally representative, and longitudinal database on nascent entrepreneurs for the United States."

"Over the past several decades, U.S. venture capital (VC) firms have focused their attention and investment dollars in specialized regional hubs where high-tech entrepreneurship tends to flourish. As a result, "main street" businesses such as retail stores, consumer services, and other non-tech businesses typically find it incredibly difficult to secure equity funding. Yet, in recent years, crowdfunding (CF) has become a viable new source of funding for entrepreneurs. Using a longitudinal assessment of VC and CF at the national, regional, and sector levels in the USA, we demonstrate how the emergence of CF has unlocked new growth opportunities for main street entrepreneurs, particularly those located in underserviced funding regions. Likewise, we expose how CF augments national and regional funding patterns by re-allocating funding to industries that VCs typically do not fund. Lastly, we discuss the practical and theoretical implications of what appears to be a shifting venture funding regime, and shed light on CF's potential role in enhancing the resurgence of main street entrepreneurship across the USA."

"This report presents the Rankings and Recognitions derived from the World Benchmark Study 2019-2020, sponsored by Qatar Development Bank. While traditional incubation and acceleration powerhouses in North America and Western Europe continue to be strongly represented, programs from around the world have captured top spots, underscoring the global importance of university, public, private and corporate incubators and accelerators for successfully nurturing the visionaries and changemakers of tomorrow."