From state partnership to social entrepreneurship: A top‐down approach to social enterprise in China

Abstract Social enterprises are hybrid organizations that combine for‐profit, market‐based practices with nonprofit goals. Social enterprises in China face specific political and institutional challenges that negatively affect their development. This study explores how a Government‐Organized Non‐Government Organization (GONGO) overcomes institutional challenges at different stages of social enterprise development by engaging strategies, which eventually lead to the establishment of a sustainable social enterprise. The GONGO applies social entrepreneurship in the three major aspects of identifying challenging social problems, implementing innovative market‐based solutions, and initiating long‐term institutional changes to tackle the stubborn social issue. This study demonstrates a unique top‐down social enterprise model and shows that in an authoritarian context, the GONGO could potentially take up the role of developing new social enterprise. This study initiates a deeper conversation between social entrepreneurship and China's socio‐political development.