Social Enterprises in the Fight Against Poverty

Abstract The study examines the evolution of poverty and social exclusion in post-socialist countries, in particular in Hungary. When examing the fight against poverty, the authors examine the role of social enterprises in poverty alleviation. A certain part of social enterprises is created to find solutions to social needs and critical social situations like increased and deep poverty or long-term unemployment. Their existence is justified by the fact that for many social problems, effective and long-term solutions cannot be provided by the governments, the market or public aid. We test whether there is any relationship between the extent of poverty and social exclusion and the spatial pattern of social enterprises established to alleviate poverty in Hungary, one of the post-socialist countries.