The term social innovation has become popular as an umbrella concept describing an array of social programs and initiatives deserving attention. Unfortunately, this flurry of social innovation activity has, as of yet, not led to the development of a comprehensive theory of social innovation. This is a critical missing step if our aim is to enact public and private policies to develop, stimulate, and maximize social innovation. Tellingly, we have yet to agree on a definition: there is no unified sense of what social innovation is and what is it not. Without a clearer idea of cause and effects in social innovation, it will remain difficult to develop desirable interventions and scale them up. This paper is a first step to close this gap; the aim is to offer a theoretical framework which can easily be used in practice.
Pue, K. ; Vandergeest, C. and Breznitz, Dan (2016) Toward a theory of social innovation (Innovation policy white paper series ; 01) Toronto, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.
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