Social Economy in Central Europe: A Comparative Study of the V4 Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15678/SER.2026.1.03Keywords:
social economy, Visegrad Group, organisations, comparative analysis, Central EuropeAbstract
Background: The social economy has gained increasing recognition in Central Europe for its potential to enhance social inclusion and economic resilience.
Research objectives: This study aimed to map and compare the social economy entities in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, with a dual focus on national specificities and the broader EU framework.
Research design and methods: Employing secondary data analysis, the research drew on the Eurostat database and the European Commission’s 2024 benchmarking report. The data was structured and analysed comparatively by legal forms and across the V4 countries.
Results: The analysis reveals pronounced national variations in the prevalence and structure of social economy entities. Associations dominate in the Visegrad countries, with social enterprises and foundations playing more significant roles in Poland and Hungary.
Conclusions: The findings indicate that while the social economy has common roots across the Visegrad region, national institutional contexts shape its development paths, underscoring the need for policy frameworks that recognise both regional convergence and country-level diversity.
Downloads
References
Adăscăliței, D. (2012). Welfare state development in Central and Eastern Europe: A state of the art litera-ture review. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 4(2), 59–70. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/36268
Borzaga, C., Salvatori, G., & Bodini, R. (2019). Social and solidarity economy and the future of work. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, 5(1), 37–57.
http://doi.org/10.1177/2393957518815300
Council of the European Union. (2023, November 27). Council recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions (Recommendation C/2023/1344). Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C_202301344
Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in Eu-rope and the United States: Convergences and divergences. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420670903442053
Doherty, B., Haugh, H., & Lyon, F. (2014). Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and re-search agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4), 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12028
European Commission. (2019a). Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Updated country re-port: Czech Republic (E. Fraňková, Author). Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=21202&langId=en
European Commission. (2019b). Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Updated country re-port: Hungary (K. Julianna, & M. Mihály, Authors). Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=21131&langId=en
European Commission. (2020a). Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Updated country re-port: Poland (A. Ciepielewska-Kowalik, Author). Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=22455&langId=en
European Commission. (2020b). Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Updated country re-port: Slovakia (Z. Polačková, Author). Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=22453&langId=en
European Commission. (2021, December 9). Building an economy that works for people: An action plan for the social economy (Communication COM(2021) 778 final). EUR‑Lex. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52021DC0778
European Commission. (2023a). Czechia. EU Social Economy Gateway. https://social-economy-gateway.ec.europa.eu/my-country/czechia_en
European Commission. (2023b). Hungary. EU Social Economy Gateway. https://social-economy-gateway.ec.europa.eu/my-country/hungary_en
European Commission. (2023c). Poland. EU Social Economy Gateway. https://social-economy-gateway.ec.europa.eu/my-country/poland_en
European Commission. (2023d). Slovakia. EU Social Economy Gateway. https://social-economy-gateway.ec.europa.eu/my-country/slovakia_en
European Commission: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. (2020). Vibrant Rural Areas. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2762/05825
European Commission: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. (2021). Rural Social Economy (EU Rural Review No 31). Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/enrd/sites/default/files/enrd_publications/publi-enrd-rr-31-socialeconomy_2021_en.pdf
European Commission: European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, CIRIEC, Euricse, & Spatial Foresight. (2024). Benchmarking the socio-economic performance of the EU social economy – Improving the socio-economic knowledge of the proximity and social economy ecosystem (C. Carini, G. Galera, G. Tallarini, R. C. Avila, B. Sak, & J. Schoenmaeckers, Authors). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2826/880860
European Economic and Social Committee. (2012). The social economy in the European Union. ‘Visits and Publications’ Unit. https://doi.org/10.2864/19534
Eurostat. (2025a). Consumer prices – inflation. Statistics Explained. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Consumer_prices_-_inflation
Eurostat. (2025b). Country facts [Interactive tool]. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/countryfacts/
Eurostat. (2025c). Fertility statistics. Statistics Explained. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Fertility_statistics
Eurostat. (2025d). HICP - annual data (average index and rate of change) [Data set]. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2908/PRC_HICP_AIND
Eurostat. (2025e). Living conditions in Europe – poverty and social exclusion. Statistics Explained. Re-trieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Living_conditions_in_Europe_-_poverty_and_social_exclusion
Eurostat. (2025f). Persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion by income quantile and household compo-sition [Data set]. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2908/ILC_PEPS03N
Eurostat. (2025g). Population structure indicators at national level [Data set]. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2908/DEMO_PJANIND
Eurostat. (2025h). Purchasing power parities and GDP per capita – preliminary estimate. Statistics Ex-plained. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Purchasing_power_parities_and_GDP_per_capita_-_preliminary_estimate
Eurostat. (2025i). Unemployment rates by sex, age, educational attainment level and NUTS 2 region (%) [Data set]. Retrieved August 5, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2908/LFST_R_LFU3RT
Eurostat. (2025j). Unemployment statistics at regional level. Statistics Explained. Retrieved August 6, 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Unemployment_statistics_at_regional_level
Eurostat. (2026). Total fertility rate [Data set]. Retrieved February 19, 2026, https://doi.org/10.2908/TPS00199
Evers, A., & Laville, J.-L. (Eds.). (2004). The third sector in Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Fekete, É. G., Hubai, L., Kiss, J., & Mihály, M. (2017). Social Enterprise in Hungary (ICSEM Working Paper No. 47). International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project. https://emes.net/icsem-working-papers/Hungary_-_Fekete_et_al.pdf
Herczog, M. (2024). The Perspectives of Family Foster Care in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review, 9(1), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.53116/pgaflr.7366
International Visegrad Fund. (n.d.). Visegrad Fund - About Us. Retrieved August 8, 2025, https://www.visegradfund.org/about-us/the-fund/
International Visegrad Fund. (2025, June 9). The Story Behind the Visegrad Fund: 25 Years of Connecting People. https://www.visegradfund.org/news/story-behind-visegrad-fund-25-years-connecting-people/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary. (2021). V4 facts and figures. https://v4.mfa.gov.hu/page/v4-facts-infographics-tbc
Nicholls, A., & Ziegler, R. (2019). The extended social grid model. In A. Nicholls & R. Ziegler (Eds.), Cre-ating economic space for social innovation (pp. 3–31). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198830511.003.0001
Social Economy Europe. (n.d.). The social economy. Retrieved August 4, 2025, https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/the-social-economy/
Social Platform. (2022, October). Position paper on social economy. https://www.socialplatform.org/content/uploads/2022/11/Position-paper-on-social-economy-1.pdf
Statistics Poland. (2024, November 28). Social integration centres, social integration clubs, vocational activity establishments, occupational therapy workshops in 2023. Press Office. https://stat.gov.pl/files/gfx/portalinformacyjny/en/defaultaktualnosci/3405/6/12/1/social_integration_centres_social_integration_clubs_vocational_activity_establishments_occupational_therapy_workshops_2023.pdf
Visegrad Group. (n.d.). About the Visegrad Group. Retrieved August 5, 2025, https://www.visegradgroup.eu/home
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Richárd Resperger
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
