Social Enterprise and Arc

by jtugman

Sources:

http://skollworldforum.org/about/what-is-social-entrepreneurship/

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative

“If  the United Nations was fully funded would we need the Arc or social enterprise”?

This blog post aims to answer this simple question. The answer however, is slightly more complicated.

Although increased funding could solve many impoverished nations social problems, many of the problems that plague these countries at a national level are rooted in its economic infrastructure. Therefore, providing business expertise may not be as effective as opposed to something like privatization or tax reform for example. Additionally, it is difficult question to provide clear answer to because it is unclear how the UN would spend this new funding. It is likely that they have priorities that are ranked higher than social enterprise or Arc.

This isn’t to say that business education offered by the Arc initiative is not worthy of investment. Education is a valuable asset that can ultimately improve a nation’s long run aggregate supply and aggregate demand.  That being said, the are likely more pressing issues in these countries in comparison to social enterprise like war or health issues.

To answer the question, if the United Nations was fully funded, the Arc and social enterprise would still be necessary programs because it is difficult to determine what the UN would do with their new funding.