Innovación social. Factores, características y áreas de impacto

Resumo

This doctoral thesis arises from the disagreement and the evident lack of consensus observed in the literature addressing the main questions on social innovation. In order to generate useful knowledge about what social innovation is and define some of its fundamental aspects, and from the conviction that in order to achieve it, it is necessary to take into account the vision of those individuals and groups who know it best, a qualitative methodology has been designed. This methodology consists of conducting a systematic review of the literature and 24 semi-structured interviews with agents connected with social innovation. The analysis and interpretation of the interviews has made it possible to advance the state of the art by defining social innovation, identifying and explaining which are the main determining factors for its birth, knowing what characteristics are typical of a socially innovative initiative, studying the role of third sector entities in its development and pointing out those areas that are most conducive to its development. Therefore, this doctoral thesis generates a new framework of knowledge around social innovation that can serve as a reference for decision-making by the different economic and social agents, as well as for the advancement of scientific study in this field.