(A) Study of Korea Social Enterprise ODA Model in International Development Cooperation

Kim Dong Uk

Major of International and Area Studies
The Graduate School of International Studies
Pusan National University

Abstract

This study focuses on developing Korean social enterprise ODA model by analyzing advanced donor countries’ social enterprise models and Korean social enterprise ODA projects initiated in 2015.
The reason why international society pays attention to social enterprise is because when using market-based approaches to address social issues in developing country, although the region has insufficient public and private fund support, it helps vulnerable social groups to enhance their will by themselves. So it is expected to contribute in order to ensure their future sustainability. Thus, policy makers in developing countries as well as international development experts take notice of social enterprise as a comprehensive economic development method, which consequently achieves poverty reduction and ensures decent work standards.
However, one of the main obstacles to the spread of social enterprise is that although a modern movement for social enterprise appears to be developing simultaneously in many places around the world, important regional differences result in variance in understanding of what the term means, and how it is supported and developed. Thus, by collecting the concepts from preceding research, the paper suggests that the definition of social enterprise in International Development Cooperation(IDC) is ‘an economically sustainable organization which produces social· environmental impact in recipient country or for the people of recipient country.’
Based on this understanding, the paper discussed the way to develop the ‘Korean Social Enterprise ODA Model.’ In fact, several public institutions initiated some projects related to social enterprise since 2014. Compared to the models of advanced donor countries such as Development Innovation Ventures(DIV), Business Innovation Facilitate(BIF) and Innovations Against Poverty(IAP), however, the projects do not introduce the characteristics of Korean social enterprise and do not consider the trend of IDC actively. Therefore, the paper suggests 6 steps to develop the ‘Korean Social Enterprise ODA Model’under 3 condition. First, as Korean social enterprise developed through a top to bottom discourse, the model should be a policy transfer model. Second, considering the trend of IDC, the people of the recipient country should be the main agent. Third, the model should reflect the results of strategies for advancing Korean IDC, the ‘Korean ODA Model’, and ‘Country Partnership Strategy(CPS).’
Meanwhile, the study has two limitations. First, although there were similar projects in the past, the paper considered social enterprise ODA projects as projects which include ‘social enterprise’ in the name. Second, considering that Korean social enterprise ODA projects started in 2015, it was hard to do a case analysis. Therefore, in future research, a broad approach of social enterprise ODA and analyzation of current Korean social enterprise projects are needed.