ABSTRACT

In Norway, social entrepreneurship and social enterprises (SE) are in a much less developed phase than in several other European countries. The development of SE in Norway is a typical case of policy diffusion, where policy concepts and models implemented in other countries are imported within another, different institutional context. This chapter gives a short overview of the historical and institutional context in which SE emerged in Norway. It sketches, based on available empirical data, the main features of the two major models of SE in the country. The chapter discusses the potential trajectories of institutionalisation of SE, given the state and the stakes of the Norwegian debate on welfare policy. In Norway, the specific division of labour and the present state of the institutionalised relationships between the state and civil society can be understood as the result of historical developments.