Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022
Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122

https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2022.6.1.165

Received 15 September 2021 © 2022 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, 
Accepted 25 March 2022 Kseniya M. Kozinskaya 
Published online 11 April 2022 epopov@mail.ru

vay_uiec@mail.ru
ksush1@yandex.ru

ARTICLE

The Sharing Economy and Social 
Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development

Evgeny V. Popov
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, 
Ural Federal University,
Yekaterinburg, Russia

Anna Yu. Veretennikova
Institute of Economics, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, 
Ural Federal University, 
Yekaterinburg, Russia

Kseniya M. Kozinskaya 
Ural Federal University,
Yekaterinburg, Russia

ABSTRACT
In the present work, the authors set out to identify common ground 
between social entrepreneurship and the sharing economy, justify 
the application of these models for the sustainable development of 
society, as well as conduct a bibliographic study into these concepts 
to identify areas of overlap between them. For a more in-depth 
analysis, we studied 20 social entrepreneurs and 20 English versions 
of websites of organizations that implement the sharing economy 
model. Based on semantic data analysis and latent Dirichlet 
allocation, the texts under examination were grouped into 5 topics 
according to frequency of occurrence of keywords using the Python 
programming language. In order to trace a connection between these 
topics and sustainable development, we selected words that can 
serve as markers of environmental, social and economic aspects 
of the activities of these organizations. Each identified topic has 

https://changing-sp.com/


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 99

Introduction

Originally developed by the Brundtland Commission in 1987, the concept of 
sustainable development has been at the forefront of global discussions between 
researchers and practitioners for over 30 years. The essence of this phenomenon 
largely corresponds to the main concept set out in the definition by WCED (World 
Commission on Environment and Development), where sustainable development 
is considered as “development that meets the needs of the present without  
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987). 
The design and scaling of solutions having an impact on sustainable development 
goals can be understood as presenting major and complex challenges requiring the 
introduction of new approaches. In this regard, it is potentially beneficial to look for 
new forms of economic interaction that ensure the sustainable development of society. 

The concept of sustainable development is closely linked with the need to tackle 
environmental and social problems arising at various levels of economic activity. All 
governments implement regulatory procedures to control environmental pollution and 
stimulate a global transition to sustainable development.

As part of the activities of economic entities, new business models are developed 
and applied to increase the social responsibility (Zhang et al., 2017). Companies widely 
apply digital technologies (George et al., 2021) in an attempt to identify more efficient 
means for utilizing tangible and intangible resources. Such solutions to sustainable 
development problems potentially include the development of social innovations. 

The search for solutions to environmental problems and approaches to improving 
resource efficiency stimulates interest in the sharing economy as a novel business 
model based on the use of digital platforms (Schwanholz & Leipold, 2020). Its rapid 
development, which is due not only to the transformation of production and business 
models but also to the transformation of consumption patterns, helps to create an 
environment for civic initiatives, including solving social and environmental issues. 

In practice, there are various options for forming and maintaining the sustainable 
development, such as direct investment in social initiatives, responsible business 

appeared to have an aspect of digitalization. The study revealed that 
the application of the sharing economy model by social entrepreneurs 
and companies contributes to the sustainable development of society. 
The obtained results can be used in elaboration of approaches to 
provide the sustainable development of society. 

KEYWORDS 
sustainable development, sharing economy, social entrepreneurship, 
digitalization. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research 
under Grant №20-010-00333.

https://changing-sp.com/


100 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

conduct, corporate social responsibility, quality management of goods and services 
produced according to modern standards. Thus, working together with the 
government, companies establish new approaches that tackles the problems of 
sustainable development.

In the search for solutions to social, environmental and economic problems, 
social entrepreneurship and the sharing economy release resources and involve civil 
society in sustainable economic interconnections. However, they should be seen as 
alternative or supplementary business approaches that provide new opportunities 
rather than constituting a comprehensive economic revolution. 

This study was aimed at examining these models in terms of their similarity 
and suitability for stimulating sustainable development. From the conducted 
semantic analysis of websites of 20 sharing economy organizations and 20 social 
entrepreneurs, it can be concluded that these models can serve as growing points 
of sustainable development in the future.

Social Entrepreneurship and the Sharing Economy as New Opportunities  
for Sustainable Development 

Sustainable Development
Sustainable development, now generally considered to be among the most 
important economic goals, implies a balanced solution to socio-economic problems 
to preserve a favourable environment and natural resource potential in order to 
meet the needs of present and future generations. The 1987 Brundtland report, 
on the basis of which the concept was formed, placed an emphasis on integrated 
development, including economic, environmental and social components, which is 
understood as managed sustainable development. 

Economic sustainability implies solutions that provide financial support to 
organizations that takes social and environmental perspectives into account. 
Although economic sustainability ensures a company’s efficient operation that 
meets the needs of key stakeholders, an exclusive focus on economic aspects 
in the process of reproduction of goods fails to provide the stability of the socio-
economic system. The necessary balance is achieved through a harmonious 
combination of social, environmental and economic factors, which contributes 
to the integrated development of individual economic entities and society as 
a whole. At the same time, the economic factor is significant not only for short-term, 
but also for long-term goals (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002; Steurer & Konrad, 2009;  
Vachon & Mao, 2008).

The most important factor in the formation of environmental sustainability is 
the appropriate conservation of natural resources (Goodland & Daly, 1996; Sun 
et al., 2020), which is not only necessary for solving environmental problems, but 
increasingly also used by economic entities to achieve competitive advantage. 
Achieving environmental sustainability fulfils the key function of the sustainable 
development concept, since it is by this means that the well-being of present and 
future generations will be ensured. Hence, it is this component of sustainable 



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 101

development that places the concept in its global environmental, socio-economic 
and political context (Klarin, 2018; Madsen & Ulhøi, 2015; Sharpley, 2000).

The multidimensional concept of social sustainability is based on the social goals 
of sustainable development. However, despite the current focus of European politics 
on “sustainable communities” and social cohesion, there is a lack of theoretical clarity 
surrounding the definition of social sustainability (Alipour & Galal Ahmed, 2021). The 
UK’s 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan abbreviates its definition of sustainable 
communities as “places where people want to live and work, now and in the future” 
(ODPM, 2006, p. 12). This document notes that such places meet the diverse needs 
of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to 
a high quality of life. As well as being well-planned, -constructed and -maintained, 
sustainable communities are safe and inclusive, offering equality of opportunity and 
good services for all categories of citizens. 

Such a definition implies that different generations have equal access to 
resources and opportunities to benefit from development. Thus, meeting the 
needs of the present generation should not sacrifice the ability to meet the needs 
of future generations, which includes three important elements: economic growth, 
social inclusion and environmental protection. These elements are combined to 
improve the quality of life through two critical concepts: needs, especially the basic 
needs of people living in poverty, which should be prioritized in the development 
process; and an understanding of the limited capacity of the environment to meet 
current and future needs, especially given the current state of technology and social 
organizations. Thus, sustainable development is closely linked with efforts to reduce 
poverty, since those living in poverty cannot meet their most basic needs such as 
food, clothing and shelter. Nevertheless, a correct understanding of the limitations 
of technology and social organization implies a realization that everyone’s actions 
have environmental consequences.

While the institutional regulation of both environmental and social problems 
implies the top-down initiation of sustainable development by government, this 
process can also be initiated “from below” through the active involvement of civil 
society. Thus, the concept of sustainable development not only implies the design of 
formal institutions, but also to the emergence of informal rules and norms, in particular, 
those arising in relation to ethical patterns of consumption (Kanaeva, 2018). 

In this regard, Soubbotina (2004) emphasizes equitability in sustainable 
development, defining it as a “fair and balanced” approach to ensuring sustainable 
access to opportunities and prosperity. Equity can be achieved by balancing the 
interests of different representatives of society, whether belonging to the same or 
different generations.

The increasingly important role played by civil society in implementing the 
concept of sustainable development mirrors the function of civic initiatives in driving 
processes of social change. In the course of a more detailed analysis of business 
models widely used by civil society to implement sustainable development, we 
identify the potential of the sharing economy and social entrepreneurship in the 
implementation of this concept. 

https://changing-sp.com/


102 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

The Sharing Economy: Essence of Concept and Potential Application  
to Ensure Sustainable Development
The dissemination of the sharing economy concept has consisted in a response 
to the search for a more sustainable and inclusive business model that would help 
resources to be managed in alternative ways, bypassing traditional institutions 
(Akhmedova et al., 2020). “Sharing economy” is an umbrella term that encompasses 
various aspects. Other terms used to describe this phenomenon include “collaborative 
economy”, “sharing economy”, “access economy”, “collaboration economy” and 

“on-demand economy” (Veretennikova, 2020). Acquier et al. (2017) note that sharing 
economy and organizations implementing this model are associated with the sharing 
or exchange of underutilized resources such as real estate, instruments or financial 
assets (e.g., Schor & Fitzmaurice, 2015). While it is not necessarily a common feature 
of all sharing economy organizations, the possibility of underuse of resources is 
evidence of the potential of the sharing economy to mitigate sustainability concerns 
(e.g., Botsman & Rogers, 2010). In addition, the sharing economy employs agents to 
draw attention to the exchange and prospects of developing inclusive organizational 
forms (Frenken & Schor, 2017). 

The sharing economy encompasses various entrepreneurial initiatives in 
terms of the legal form of their business organization including value creation, the 
utilization of technological resources, and presence of underlying values (Acquier 
et al., 2017; Sundararajan, 2016). Entrepreneurs who apply the sharing economy 
model generally share a common desire to optimize underutilized resources. Many 
such organizations claim that their business models have the potential to transform 
society and promote social initiatives: improving access to goods and services by 
reducing the income of large businesses, building social networks, extending the life 
of facilities, encouraging recycling, etc. Thus, the sharing economy model can be 
considered as a hybrid economic model between ownership and exchange. Within 
such relationship models, transactions between economic agents are typically 
streamlined by actively utilizing various online services and digital platforms.

The bibliographic study of the sharing economy revealed two main perspectives 
regarding its development. The first is based on the idea that the major goal of the 
sharing economy is to create an alternative to existing economic models. Advocates 
for this view argue that it allows for a more inclusive and collaborative financial system, 
involving equitable production and a new social order (e.g., Bauwens, 2006; Rifkin, 
2014; Sundararajan, 2013). 

The second perspective of the sharing economy relates to the idea that it could 
lead to the end of capitalist relations (e.g., Benkler, 2017; Sundararajan, 2013). 
Adherents of this position generally assume that a shared system for the production 
and management of resources, as well as cooperative social practices, will become 
more widespread, transforming the existing economic system to create a more 
democratic and inclusive social order. The underlying concept of human well-being 
focuses on social values such as collaboration, solidarity, social cohesion, equality 
and participation. Proponents of this point of view typically argue that the purpose 
of the sharing economy should be to create an alternative economic system that 



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 103

emphasizes social and environmental values over economic ones (e.g., Benkler, 
2017; Rifkin, 2014).

Sharing economy initiatives that involve broader social groups mainly operate 
within non-profit business models, advancing their mission through the development 
of social innovation. Since the purpose of this type of organization is to fulfil a social 
mission, such initiatives also have significant potential for environmental innovation.

The advancement of the sharing economy (Botsman & Rogers, 2010) has 
encouraged economists and policy makers to consider this model as a new type 
of economic interaction with the potential for sustainable economic development 
(Heinrichs, 2013; Martin, 2016). Sharing can reduce overconsumption and minimize 
energy expenditure, while lower prices can increase the consumption of goods and 
services (Pargman et al., 2016). At the same time, researchers express opposing 
positions regarding the sharing economy. For example, Dillahunt and Malone (2015) 
believe that sharing economy organizations can provide employment opportunities, 
while others (Erickson & Sørensen, 2016) argue that sharing economy employment 
structures do not provide a high level of security for employees.

Thus, research into the sharing economy creates a series of debates about 
whether it can lead to a society’s equitable and sustainable development. In some 
studies, the sharing economy is presented as a model for sustainable development 
and as a driving force behind sustainable economic growth (Heinrichs, 2013). It 
improves standards and quality of life by more efficiently allocating existing resources 
(Bonciu & Balgar, 2016). In addition, some scholars believe that applying the sharing 
economy model can reduce costs (Plewnia & Guenther, 2018), thereby decreasing 
inequality and providing income for people from all social strata (Fraiberger & 
Sundararajan, 2015). On the other hand, scientists question the real impact of 
sharing economy on sustainable development. For example, Hamari et al. (2015) 
point out that the sharing economy does not necessarily contribute to sustainability; 
it is time to reinforce the presence of fragile economic paradigms (Martin, 2016), 
which could lead to a breach of government regulation and possible monopolization 
of these emerging firms with the sharing economy model (Cheng & Edwards, 2019; 
Williams & Horodnic, 2017). Some argue that the sharing economy is vulnerable to 
the formation of monopolistic practices and that this reflects an intensification of an 
ongoing neoliberal trend that abuses the concept of entrepreneurship (Matzler et al., 
2015; Qiang et al., 2016; Zervas et al., 2015).

Social Entrepreneurship and Its Potential According  
to the Concept of Sustainable Development
Another emerging economic phenomenon, offering high potential for solving social 
and environmental problems through the development of business activities, is social 
entrepreneurship. Increased research interest in this topic is accompanied by the 
further institutionalization of social entrepreneurship in the academic community. 

The multidimensional concept of social entrepreneurship refers to business 
activities undertaken to achieve a social mission (Mort et al., 2002). Definitions of 
social entrepreneurship generally fall back on those of classical entrepreneurship  

https://changing-sp.com/


104 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

(Abu-Saifan, 2012; Santos, 2012). The most commonly used definition of an 
entrepreneur formulated by Schumpeter (1954/1994) is that of an innovator who 
combines production factors in an economic development approach. Such 
a combination can take the form of production methods that solve production problems 
and encourage the invention of new products. For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship 
entails a process of creative destruction since entrepreneurs trying to find a unique 
combination of factors of production may ignore existing technologies and products. 
By adding the word “social” to the word “entrepreneur”, Schumpeter emphasizes that 
social entrepreneurship is not just “business as usual” but necessarily focuses on 
social development. Dees and Anderson (2006) and Dees (2001) understand social 
entrepreneurship as an action aimed at achieving change implemented through 
entrepreneurial principles and models, which meets social needs, overcomes social 
problems and maintains social values. From this definition, it is clear that social 
entrepreneurship does not prioritize the achievement of economic value.

However, social entrepreneurship cannot be equated with classical 
entrepreneurship. As opposed to classical entrepreneurship, the main feature 
of social entrepreneurship lies in its social mission and performance measured 
according to social criteria. As shown by Mair and Marti (2006), the main priority of 
social entrepreneurship is the creation of social welfare, while other types of business 
activity (for example, business entrepreneurship) prioritize the advancement of 
economic interests. Santos (2012) similarly highlights the underlying motivations 
of social entrepreneurs. According to Santos, the primary motivation for any social 
entrepreneur is to create value for society. Whether such value is achieved through 
business activities, business organization, or business/venture capital management, 
it is aimed at achieving desirable social change (George, 2009).

The well-known social entrepreneurship theorist J. Gregory Dees defines 
this type of activity as a change-based process that creates social value through 
innovation and creativity (1998). Since the creation of social value is considered 
as a prerequisite for social entrepreneurship, Choi and Majumdar (2014) believe 
that it can be seen as a necessary factor. However, the creation of social value 
is not a sufficient factor for social entrepreneurship: the creation of social value 
must be supplemented by one of the following conditions: the presence of a social 
entrepreneur in a type of organization (social enterprise) that takes a market 
orientation, as well as participation in social innovations that tackle social issues. 

According to another point of view, social entrepreneurship is seen as charity, 
usually aimed at achieving specific social goals. According to Dacin et al. (2010), 
social entrepreneurs are social investors who use their resources and capital to run 
businesses that are primarily designed to support the poor. The philanthropic impulse 
underlying these non-profit organizations emphasizes the social impact created 
by rigorous business and management principles, venture capital and strategic 
approaches. Thus, social entrepreneurs can also be called venture philanthropists 
(Robinson, 2006). The Ashoka foundation, which has been recognized as the first 
organization to use social entrepreneurship, identifies social entrepreneurs as offering 
innovative solutions to social problems that plague their societies (Mair & Marti, 2006). 



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 105

Such people tend to be forward-thinking and ambitious, as well as having a solid 
understanding of the potential for a better future. As such, they are always searching 
for new ways to realize their vision and overcome social problems. Ashoka stresses 
the role of other agents (that is, those outside the government and the private sector) 
in finding solutions to social issues. Social entrepreneurs can transform existing 
systems, propose alternative solutions and inspire others to change the direction 
of the social problems they face. In this way, social entrepreneurs both understand 
the critical value of ideas and use them to bring about social transformation  
through “changing direction”.

Seelos and Mair (2017) argued that some social enterprises have been able 
to find new solutions to social problems through innovation. In this way, social 
entrepreneurs use the most effective methods to provide services taking the form of 
social activity (Ratten, 2018). Social entrepreneurship is an innovative approach that 
explains various subjects in education, environment, fair trade, health and human 
rights; more broadly, it is an essential component of the sustainable development 
framework (Korsgaard et al., 2015). Nowadays, entrepreneurship can be a source 
of many social and economic consequences. The broader entrepreneurship 
culture fostered by the social focus creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs to 
identify resources, opportunities and challenges, as well as inventing new solutions 
to expand various aspects of their workspace to create a context for sustainable 
development (Korsgaard et al., 2015).

In this way, social entrepreneurship contributes to the sustainable development 
of a particular society. In addition to increased levels of uncertainty in politics, 
economics and environmental development (Seelos & Mair, 2004), as well as the 
growing diversity of social needs, various social needs are unmet due to market 
challenges (Phillips et al., 2015). Market failures exclude certain social groups, 
especially the poor, from access to resources, as well as preventing them from 
participating in and taking advantage of existing economic opportunities (Rauniyar 
& Kanbur, 2009). Sustainable development mitigates the adverse effects of market 
failures, reducing poverty and helping to create a prosperous society (Maeda et al., 
2014). According to Hansson et al. (2014), when traditional approaches funded by 
public institutions and government agencies fail to address social needs or have 
a negative impact on social life, social entrepreneurship and the sharing economy 
must play a more critical role in development than before as components of 
sustainable development. In their study, Hansson et al. point to the importance of 
social initiatives in achieving sustainable development, as evidenced by the efforts 
of the Swiss government to develop a long-term development plan designed to 
become the primary vehicle (private or public) of social innovation. In a similar vein, 
Phills Jr. et al. (2008) emphasize the use of social entrepreneurship to overcome 
market disruptions, pointing to the novelty, improvement, and sustainability of social 
entrepreneurship. Through social entrepreneurship, new ideas and approaches can 
be applied at a cross-sectoral level to better address social needs. By focusing on 
long-term solutions, social entrepreneurship can ensure environmental, economic 
and organizational sustainability.

https://changing-sp.com/


106 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

Social entrepreneurship activities are often associated with social innovation, 
which can be seen as forming their essential foundation (Dees, 1998). Social 
entrepreneurship refers to the activities carried out by agents to bring about social 
change, while social innovation is a process that can result in specific social change 
(Cunha et al., 2015). Thus, social entrepreneurs are seen as harbingers of creative 
destruction, contributing to social change and social movement. This is often referred 
to as unconventional ways of acting and thinking, and it is a common characteristic of 
social entrepreneurs. Unconventional methods such as collaborative and creative 
work can be an essential step towards achieving sustainability (Manzini, 2012).

Since the sustainable social development concept is fairly recent, there are 
few studies that broadly examine its relationship with social entrepreneurship. 
However, works by Buzinde et al. (2017) and Sheldon et al. (2017) show how social 
entrepreneurship in tourism can positively impact sustainable development. Wanyama 
(2014) investigates the vital role played by social entrepreneurship in achieving 
sustainable social development—in particular, in increasing wages. Meanwhile, 
Ramani et al. (2017) examine the role of social entrepreneurship in achieving 
sustainable development in water and sanitation management in India. Drawing 
on the theory of Schumpeter, Rahdari et al. (2016) depict a framework for realizing 
sustainable development with social entrepreneurship.

Seelos and Mair (2004) also show the link between social entrepreneurship 
and promoting sustainable development. They argue that sustainable development 
can be realized via three approaches:

a. meeting basic needs;
b. building communities that use shared norms, rights and actions to encourage 

active participation in social and economic development;
c. considering the needs of future generations in every currently undertaken 

activity.
As well as solving environmental and social problems, social entrepreneurship 

and the sharing economy contribute to economic growth becoming tools for the 
sustainable development of society.

Thus, social entrepreneurship and sharing economy organizations are not 
new forms of economic activity. Social entrepreneurship is one of the forms taken 
by classical entrepreneurship, in which the emphasis on making a profit is shifted to 
solving social problems. At the same time, the goal of creating a profit remains one of 
the most important goals. Sharing economy organizations also have a classical form 
of economic interactions built into the tasks and needs of modern society.

Whether undertaken in developed or developing countries, the basis for the 
development of social entrepreneurship and the sharing economy is formed by 
civil initiatives that solve social problems—that is, involving the formation of these 
types of activities “from below” (Stephan et al., 2015). At the same time, the formal 
institutional environment should support and not hinder the development of these 
initiatives.

Since most research works are devoted to the concepts underpinning these 
activities, in our study, we consider social entrepreneurship and sharing economy 



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 107

as models for sustainable development. Thus, we put forward the following 
hypothesis:

H1: Sharing economy and social entrepreneurship can be used as alternative 
socio-economic models for sustainable development of society.

Digitalization is an essential condition for the development of institutional 
environment of social entrepreneurship due to its ability to reduce transaction costs, 
accelerate the obtaining of necessary information, ensure the mobility of resources 
and support the emergence of new ways of support. The studies into this topic (for 
example, Hajli, 2014; Igarashi & Okada, 2015) demonstrate the relevance of research 
investigating the role of digitalization in socio-economic change.

In this way, digitalization provides the context in which contemporary socio-
economic processes are manifested. We studied three components of the sustainable 
development of society: economic development, social progress, responsibility for 
the environment. Digitalization is considered as an add-on that accelerates these 
processes. Thus, we put forward the hypothesis H2:

H2: The use of digital technologies in projects of sharing economy and social 
entrepreneurship stimulates the sustainable development of society.

Methodology

Researchers into social entrepreneurship and the sharing economy focus above all 
on the essence and features of these phenomena (Choi & Majumdar, 2014). Most 
of the studies investigate the motives, main characteristics and success factors of 
organizations that use these models. Social entrepreneurship researchers focus on 
the study of leadership issues and individual features of entrepreneurs. As a result, 
more relevant aspects remain unexplored. Our bibliographic analysis showed that 
the number of conceptual papers investigating the sharing economy and social 
entrepreneurship (Bacq & Janssen, 2011; Desa, 2012; Dhesi, 2010; Estrin et al. 2013; 
McMullen, 2011) exceeds the number of empirical studies. Moreover, those empirical 
studies that do exist are often largely descriptive and omit rigorous analysis methods 
(Short et al., 2009). For instance, mathematical analysis tools are quite rarely used in 
such studies. We believe that the main reason for this problem is the lack of statistics. 
Studies on the sharing economy are often based on data from surveys that disregard 
dynamic aspects. Data on social entrepreneurship by countries is not updated more 
frequently than every five years.

The research procedure developed in the present study is based on the 
methodological analysis tools that were presented in the work of D. Wruk, A. Oberg, 
J. Klutt, and I. Maurer (Wruk et al., 2019). Although these researchers investigated 
how value propositions and business model features are interlinked in sharing 
economy, we were able to adapt successfully this approach for our own study.

Topic modelling approaches are efficient due to about 80% of big data being 
available in unstructured text forms, such as blogs, websites, and social networks 
(Cogburn & Hine, 2017). Thus, this method allows all data sources related to 
natural language to be used. In order to extract information from these sources, 

https://changing-sp.com/
https://philpapers.org/s/Dominika%20Wruk


108 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

it is possible to apply various tools for processing texts, including semantic and 
social data. 

Topic modelling comprising an unsupervised machine learning technique 
capable of scanning a set of documents, detecting word and phrase patterns within 
them and automatically clustering word groups and similar expressions that best 
characterize a set of documents. As such, topic models are a form of latent variable 
model. In order to identify latent variables, fuzzy clustering is used. This comprises 
an algorithm in which each element has a probability of belonging to a particular 
cluster. In our study, we used the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) probabilistic data 
analysis method (Landauer, Foltz & Laham,1998; Glushkov, 2018).

LDA comprises two parts. The first consists in a probabilistic model for describing 
text data in terms of a likelihood function. In the second part, given the impossibility to 
maximize the likelihood function, LDA uses an inference algorithm. The probabilistic 
LDA model considers that each document d of D documents in the entire text can be 
described as a probabilistic combination of T topics. The value of T (the number of 
sections) is determined by the user according to the required precision.

Latent semantic analysis (LSA), which is the essence of topic modelling, allows for 
mapping texts (or documents) into the so-called “semantic space” (Landauer et al.,1998). 
Since, according to this type of analysis, texts are assumed to be just a collection 
of words, their order in sentences making up documents can be ignored. The only 
important thing is how many times a particular word occurs in the document. Although 
semantic meaning is determined by a set of words that are usually collocated, each 
word has its own unique meaning. As a result, we obtained groups of words forming  
so-called “topics”. As well as taking into account the distance between these words 
and their weight in texts, such topics are united by a common meaning.

To conduct the latent semantic analysis, we used tools and libraries written in the 
Python programming language. In order to use the off-the-shelf software libraries, it 
was necessary to limit our analysis to texts written in English. 

The research procedure included three main stages comprising the selection 
of texts, as well as their coding and analysis. In the first stage, we selected social 
entrepreneurship organizations that were presented on the Causeartist1 platform, 
which comprises a global community of social entrepreneurs, business leaders 
and individuals who support social projects. Thus, Causeartist serves as a platform 
providing the newest information, tools and resources for collaborative activity having 
a global impact potential. 

The operator of this platform forms an annual list of new social enterprises that 
represent the most interesting projects worldwide. In this study, we used organizations 
operating in English-speaking countries in 2020 and having a description in English. 
Thus, from a total of 37 options, we selected 20 organizations, including social 
entrepreneurs from the UK and the USA. 

In order to form texts pertaining to the sharing economy organizations, we 
used American news resources dedicated to sustainable development. Companies 

1 https://causeartist.com/

https://causeartist.com/


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 109

from the USA, India, the UAE, and Germany were also included. Of these, we also 
selected 20 organizations. 

Next, we analysed the websites of the selected organizations and formed texts 
for latent semantic analysis. To prepare these data, we used the “about” sections. As 
a result, 40 texts were selected. 

In the second stage, using the latent semantic analysis and the Python 
programming language, these texts were divided into topics. The index of the topic for 
each text is presented in the Appendix (Table 2). In addition, the Table 2 indicates the 
likelihood of this text being relevant to a particular topic.

In the third stage, we analysed if the topics obtained correspond to the three 
components of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. 

Results

Using the latent semantic analysis (LSA) described above, all texts were divided 
into five blocks covering social, economic, environmental and digital development 
issues. This grouping responds to the inclusion of these aspects in the concept of 
sustainable development and the importance of digitalization processes in this area. 
The obtained results (Сolumn 2 in Table 1) present most frequently used words (or 
parts of words) within a given topic. For example, the text «people 0.017» means that 
the frequency of using word «people» in topic 1 equal 0.017.
Table 1
Semantic Analysis Results

The number 
of topic Content

Distribution of results by topic

Social Economic Environmental Digital

Topic 1 People 0.017
Idea 0.013
Support 0.011
Make 0.010
Startnext 0.010
Platform 0.009
Creat 0.008
Ola 0.007
Commun 0.006
Wifi 0.006

People 0.017
Support 0.011
Commun 0.006

Platform 0.009
Wifi 0.006

Topic 2 Student 0.014
Good 0.009
Job 0.007
One 0.007
Profit 0.007
World 0.007
Cape 0.007
College 0.007
Mission 0.005
Provid 0.005

Mission 0.005
Provid 0.005

Good 0.009
Job 0.007
Profit 0.007

World 0.007

https://changing-sp.com/


110 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

The number 
of topic Content

Distribution of results by topic

Social Economic Environmental Digital

Topic 3 Talent 0.010
Creat 0.009
Home 0.008
World 0.008
People 0.008
Skillharbour 0.007
Work 0.007
Skill 0.007
Make 0.007
Connect 0.006

People 0.008 Work 0.007
Skill 0.007
Skillharbour 
0.007

World 0.008

Topic 4 Food 0.016
Make 0.009
Healthi 0.009
Common 0.008
Work 0.007
Pet 0.007
Creat 0.006
Spread 0.006
Note 0.006
Raw 0.006

Healthi 0.009
Common 0.008

Work 0.007 Pet 0.007
Raw 0.006

Topic 5 Give 0.014
Social 0.009
People 0.008
Home 0.007
Business 0.007
Care 0.007
Want 0.007
World 0.007
Commun 0.007
Live 0.006

Social 0.009
People 0.008
Commun 0.007
Care 0.007

Business 
0.007

World 0.007

Thus, four out of five topics cover all three aspects of sustainable development: 
economic, social and environmental. Word combinations related to digitalization 
processes were only found in the first topic. 

In the last stage of the study, we determined the topics to which the sharing 
economy and social entrepreneurship texts belonged. The results are presented 
in Figure 1, in which the Y-axis represents the number of organizations related to 
a particular topic from the fields of social entrepreneurship or sharing economy. 

The presented one-dimensional linear distribution of information resources 
over these topics demonstrates reasonably uniform distribution. However, in the first 
topic, texts relating to sharing economy organizations are prevalent. At the same time, 
this is the only topic for which the digitalization block has was filled. The same topic 
combines the most significant number of resources.

Table 1 Continued



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 111

Figure 1
Distribution of Information Resources of Social Entrepreneurship and Sharing 
Economy in the Identified Topics

5

3 3
4

3

8

1

4
5

7

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 4 Topic 5
social entrepreneurship sharing economy

Discussion

The analysis and results presented above allow an assessment of the main goals 
and values within which organizations operate using the sharing economy and social 
entrepreneurship models. It was revealed that the main goals of the majority of analysed 
organizations are social or economic; in some cases, they were environmental. Since 
all these components form the basis for the sustainable development of society, we 
concluded that the social entrepreneurship and sharing economy models are part of 
the development of this phenomenon. It is important to note that these models are 
bottom-up initiatives—that is, formed by the society, but not government.

Thus, we confirmed the hypothesis H1 that the organizations of social 
entrepreneurship and sharing economy could serve as the basis for developing new 
models for sustainable development, as well as having similar features in terms of the 
goals and objectives defining their activities.

The established link between social entrepreneurship and sustainable develop-
ment is empirically relevant. This can be seen in the example of the Bangladesh Re-
habilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC). Through its network of volunteers, BRAC 
has provided poor women with the help they need to obtain adequate health care and 
education about the best and safest ways to provide food for their families. BRAC 
has successfully reduced poverty by giving communities economic and social access, 
including but not limited to access to education, health care and microcredit programs 
aimed at promoting sustainable development (Seelos & Mair, 2004).

The social entrepreneurship organization SEKEM, which aims at promoting 
sustainable business practices in Egypt, has had a similar impact. This organization 
shows how business can combine profitability and participation in the global market 
with a humane approach to people and environmental awareness. SEKEM’s business 
activities are based on four principles of sustainability, also known as the “Flower of 
Sustainability”: (a) economy; (b) social life; (c) cultural life; (d) environment. These four 
principles indicate that SEKEM can implement sustainable business practices and 

https://changing-sp.com/


112 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

implement them through seven activities, namely those related to economic life, social 
life, cultural life, water, soil, plants, animals, energy and air. First is the sustainability 
of economic activity, which is realized through equity and ethical values, as well as 
environmental, social and cultural development. In order to measure the level of 
business sustainability, the Sustainable Business Practice Self-Assessment Tool is 
used. This method allows SEKEM and its business partners to anticipate sustainability 
gaps or other issues that hinder the sustainability of their business and identify the 
correct form of intervention needed to bridge those gaps. The second component 
is social stability, which is implemented for the development of interpersonal 
relationships. SEKEM has developed a culture of mutual understanding and trust with 
its business partners and supporters. The goal of this approach is to create a sense of 
equality. SEKEM also drew attention to the need to promote gender equality in order 
to create a sustainable society. This is followed by cultural sustainability, for which 
purpose SEKEM focused on individual development—in particular, on innovativeness 
and social responsibility, realized through a holistic cultural approach. Education is 
also being used to promote sustainable development, especially among the youth 
of Egypt. Finally, in terms of the environmental component, SEKEM has pioneered 
the successful transformation of desert into productive agricultural land. This was 
achieved by practicing sustainable organic and biodynamic agricultural techniques 
to reclaim desert lands in a sustainable manner that allows them to be used for 
agricultural purposes (Seelos & Mair, 2004).

Thus, numerous studies and research projects indicate the increasing 
importance of social entrepreneurship in the sustainable development of society 
since many social entrepreneurs successfully overcome economic problems and 
promote social change through, among other things, social innovation. As agents 
of change, social entrepreneurs take advantage of opportunities that others cannot. 
They also develop new approaches and solutions to bring about social change and 
build a better society.

Hypothesis H2 was not confirmed, since all topics, except for one, lack content 
that includes digital aspects of the activities of the considered companies. At the 
same time, digitalization is typical for the topic “0”, whose analysis demonstrates its 
social functionality. However, as shown in Table 1, the economic and environmental 
components are not affected in this case. Since no unambiguous conclusions can be 
drawn from the obtained results, further research is needed. 

The presented analysis shows that the basis for social entrepreneurship and 
the sharing economy is the uniformity of values. The aim of the sharing economy is 
to increase the efficiency of underutilized assets, which has a beneficial effect on the 
environment by prolonging the working life of particular resources. Although social 
entrepreneurship is generally focused on solving social problems, it contributes to 
increasing civic responsibility, thus combining environmental and social values, which 
are at the heart of the concept of sustainable development. 

Although the regulatory mechanisms corresponding to these concepts differ, 
the idea of sustainable development has been approved at the international level, 
as well as being enshrined in the relevant federal documents. This gives rise 



Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 113

to the need to consider this paradigm when designing business processes and 
formulating an appropriate environmental and social policy for large enterprises. 
The effectiveness of social entrepreneurship resulting from the increase in civic 
initiatives is dependent on the conditions for information, material, financial and 
consulting support provided by the relevant institutions. Although, on the one hand, 
the sharing economy generates the risk of the transformation of traditional market 
institutions, it also serves as value guidelines for sustainable development, realizing 
ethical consumption and use of resources. For example, this concept is actively 
used for the development of urban areas.

We can directly observe the role of social entrepreneurship and the sharing 
economy in sustainable development, in which the involvement of civil society in 
solving social and environmental problems contributes to the formation of a solidarity 
economy. At the same time, various institutional contradictions and barriers prevent 
the potential of these concepts from being more thoroughly realized at the current 
development stage. Future work will involve a more detailed analysis of the stated 
limitations.

Conclusion

The discussed social entrepreneurship and sharing economy models can form the 
basis for sustainable development. The results of the present study demonstrate the 
similarity of these models, as well as testing their suitability for stimulating sustainable 
development. The latent semantic analysis of sharing economy and social enterprise 
organizations confirmed the high potential of these models for pursuing sustainable 
development. At the same time, despite the obvious conclusion that digitalization 
improves resource-use efficiency, the role of the digital component in the sharing 
economy and social entrepreneurship projects for the sustainable development of 
society remains to be clearly defined. 

Of additional significance is the presented thesis about the significance of the 
presented models in terms of enhancing the civil initiative in sustainable development, 
as well as the need to design mechanisms for harmonious interaction for eliminating 
institutional contradictions that limit the potential of these concepts. We believe that 
the obtained results can be useful when developing tools to maintain the sustainable 
development of a given society.

References 

Abu-Saifan, S. (2012). Social entrepreneurship: Definition and boundaries. 
Technology Innovation Management Review, 2(2), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.22215/
timreview/523 

Acquier, A., Daudigeos, T., & Pinkse, J. (2017). Promises and paradoxes of the 
sharing economy: An organizing framework. Technological Forecasting and Social 
Change, 125, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.07.006 

https://changing-sp.com/
https://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/523
https://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/523
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.07.006


114 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

Akhmedova, A., Mas-Machuca, M., & Marimon, F. (2020). Value co-creation 
in the sharing economy: The role of quality of service provided by peer. Journal of 
Cleaner Production, 266, 121736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121736 

Alipour, S. M. H., & Galal Ahmed, K. (2021). Assessing the effect of urban form 
on social sustainability: a proposed “Integrated Measuring Tools Method” for urban 
neighborhoods in Dubai. City, Territory and Architecture, 8, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/
s40410-020-00129-4 

Bacq, S. & Janssen, F. (2011). The multiple faces of social entrepreneurship: 
A review of definitional iIssues based on geographical and thematic criteria. 
Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 23(5–6), 373–403. https://doi.org/10.10
80/08985626.2011.577242

Bauwens, M. (2006). The political economy of peer production. Post-autistic 
economics review, 37, 33–44. http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue37/
Bauwens37.htm 

Benkler, Y. (2017). Peer production, the commons, and the future of the firm. 
Strategic Organization, 15(2), 264–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127016652606 

Bonciu, F., & Balgar, A. C. (2016). Sharing economy as a contributor to sustainable 
growth, an EU perspective. Romanian Journal of European Affairs, 16(2), 36–45. 
https://doaj.org/article/f1c593bf847c42128ea3c4a48510f48e 

Botsman, R., & Rogers, R. (2010). What’s mine is yours: the rise of collaborative 
consumption. Harper Business.

Buzinde, C., Shockley, G., Andereck K., Dee, E., & Frank, P. (2017). Theorizing 
social entrepreneurship within tourism studies. In P. Sheldon & R. Daniele (Eds.), 
Social entrepreneurship and tourism. Tourism on the verge (pp. 21–34). Springer. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46518-0_2 

Cheng, M., & Edwards, D. (2019). A comparative automated content analysis 
approach on the review of the sharing economy discourse in tourism and  
hospitality. Current Issues in Tourism, 22(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/136835
00.2017.1361908 

Choi, N., & Majumdar, S. (2014). Social entrepreneurship as an essentially 
contested concept: Opening a new avenue for systematic future research. 
Journal of Business Venturing, 29(3), 363 –376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jbusvent.2013.05.001 

Cogburn, D. L., & Hine, M. (2017). Introduction to text mining in big data 
analytics minitrack. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on 
System Sciences (HICSS 2017), Hilton Waikoloa Village, USA, January 4–7, 2017 
(pp. 940–941). https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2017.110 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121736
https://ezproxy.urfu.ru:2074/sourceid/21100873340?origin=recordpage
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-020-00129-4
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-020-00129-4
https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2011.577242
https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2011.577242
http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue37/Bauwens37.htm
http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue37/Bauwens37.htm
https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127016652606
https://doaj.org/article/f1c593bf847c42128ea3c4a48510f48e
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46518-0_2
https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1361908
https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1361908
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.05.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.05.001
file:///D:/%d0%a0%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%82%d0%b0/CS%26P/2022_6(1)/Attachments_stepanova.elena.a@gmail.com_2022-05-10_09-14-07/javascript:void(0)
file:///D:/%d0%a0%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%82%d0%b0/CS%26P/2022_6(1)/Attachments_stepanova.elena.a@gmail.com_2022-05-10_09-14-07/javascript:void(0)
https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2017.110


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 115

Cunha, J., Benneworth, P., & Oliveira, P. (2015). Social entrepreneurship and 
social innovation: A conceptual distinction. In L. M. Carmo-Farinha, J. J. M. Ferreira, 
H. L. Smith, & S. Bagchi-Sen (Eds.), Handbook of research on global competitive 
advantage through innovation and entrepreneurship (pp. 616–639). IGI Global.  
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8348-8.ch033 

Dacin, P. A., Dacin, M. T., & Matear, M. (2010). Social entrepreneurship: Why 
we don’t need a new theory and how we move forward from here. Academy of 
Management Perspectives, 24(3), 37–57. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.24.3.37 

Dees, J. G. (1998). Enterprising nonprofits. Harvard Business Review, 76(1), 54–67.

Dees, J. G. (2001). The meaning of “social entrepreneurship” [Draft paper]. 
ht tps://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/the-meaning-of-social-
entrepreneurship/ 

Dees, J., & Anderson, B. B. (2006). Framing a theory of social entrepreneurship: 
Building on two schools of practice and thought in research on social entrepreneurship. 
In Research on Social Entrepreneurship: Understanding and Contributing to an 
Emerging Field (pp. 39–66). Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations 
and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_
items/framing-a-theor y-of-social-entrepreneurship-building-on-two-schools-of-
practice-and-thought/ 

Desa, G. (2012). Resource mobilization in international social entrepreneurship: 
Bricolage as a mechanism of institutional transformation. Entrepreneurship Theory 
and Practice, 36(4), 727–751. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00430.x 

Dhesi, A. S. (2010). Diaspora, social entrepreneurs and community 
development. International Journal of Social Economics, 37(9), 703–716.  
https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291011062498 

Dillahunt, T. R., & Malone, A. R. (2015). The promise of the sharing economy 
among disadvantaged communities. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM 
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Seoul, Republic of Korea, April 
18–23, 2015 (pp. 2285–2294). https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702189 

Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate 
sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11(2), 130–141. https://doi.
org/10.1002/bse.323 

Erickson, K., & Sørensen, I. (2016). Regulating the sharing economy. Internet 
Policy Review, 5(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.14763/2016.2.414 

Estrin, S., Mickiewicz, T., & Stephan, U. (2013). Entrepreneurship, social 
capital, and institutions: Social and commercial entrepreneurship across nations. 
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 37(3), 479–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/
etap.12019 

https://changing-sp.com/
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8348-8.ch033
https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.24.3.37
https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/the-meaning-of-social-entrepreneurship/
https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/the-meaning-of-social-entrepreneurship/
https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/framing-a-theory-of-social-entrepreneurship-building-on-two-schools-of-practice-and-thought/
https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/framing-a-theory-of-social-entrepreneurship-building-on-two-schools-of-practice-and-thought/
https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/case/knowledge_items/framing-a-theory-of-social-entrepreneurship-building-on-two-schools-of-practice-and-thought/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00430.x
https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291011062498
https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702189
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323
https://doi.org/10.14763/2016.2.414
https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12019
https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12019


116 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

Fraiberger, S. P., & Sundararajan, A. (2015). Peer-to-peer rental markets in the 
sharing economy [Research Paper]. New York University, Stern School of Business. 
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2574337 

Frenken, K., & Schor, J. (2017). Putting the sharing economy into perspective. 
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 23, 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
eist.2017.01.003 

George, A. M. (2009). Identifying social entrepreneurs serving the poor at the 
BoP [Working Papers Series wp972]. William Davidson Institute at the University 
of Michigan. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/133002/
wp972.pdf 

George, G., Merril, R. K., & Schillebeeckx, S. J. D. (2021). Digital sustainability 
and entrepreneurship: How digital innovations are helping tackle climate change and 
sustainable development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(5), 999–1027. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719899425 

Glushkov, N. A. (2018). Analiz metodov tematicheskogo modelirovaniia 
tekstov na estestvennom iazyke [Analysis of methods of thematic modelling of 
texts in natural language]. Molodoi uchenyi, 19(205), 101–103. https://moluch.ru/
archive/205/50247/ 

Goodland, R., & Daly, H. (1996). Environmental sustainability: universal 
and non-negotiable. Ecological Applications, 6(4), 1002–1017. https://doi.
org/10.2307/2269583 

Hajli, M. (2014). Social commerce for innovation. International Journal 
of Innovation Management, 18(4), 145–164. https://doi.org/10.1142/
S1363919614500248 

Hamari, J., Sjöklint, M., & Ukkonen, A. (2015). The sharing economy: Why 
people participate in collaborative consumption. Journal of the Association for 
Information Science and Technology, 67(9), 2047–2059. https://doi.org/10.1002/
asi.23552

Hansson, J., Lundborg, D., & Olofsson, L. (Eds.). (2014). An ecosystem for 
social innovation in Sweden – A strategic research and innovation agenda. Lund 
University.

Heinrichs, H. (2013). Sharing economy: A potential new pathway to 
sustainability. GAIA—Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 22(4), 
228–231. https://doi.org/10.14512/GAIA.22.4.5 

Igarashi, Y., & Okada, M. (2015) Social innovation through a dementia project 
using innovation architecture. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 97, 
193–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.01.001 

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2574337
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.01.003
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.01.003
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/133002/wp972.pdf
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/133002/wp972.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719899425
https://moluch.ru/archive/205/50247/
https://moluch.ru/archive/205/50247/
https://doi.org/10.2307/2269583
https://doi.org/10.2307/2269583
https://doi.org/10.1142/S1363919614500248
https://doi.org/10.1142/S1363919614500248
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23552
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23552
https://doi.org/10.14512/GAIA.22.4.5
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.01.001


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 117

Kanaeva, O. A. (2018). Sotsial’nye imperativy ustoichivogo razvitiia [Social 
imperatives of sustainable development]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. 
Ekonomika, 34(1), 26–58. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu05.2018.102 

Klarin, T. (2018). The concept of sustainable development: from its beginning 
to the contemporary issues. Zagreb International Review of Economics & Business, 
21(1), 67–94. https://doi.org/10.2478/zireb-2018-0005 

Korsgaard, S., Ferguson, R., & Gaddefors, J. (2015). The best of both worlds: 
how rural entrepreneurs use placial embeddedness and strategic networks to create 
opportunities. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 27(9–10), 574–598. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2015.1085100 

Landauer, T., Foltz, P., & Laham, D. (1998). An introduction to latent 
semantic analysis. Discourse Processes, 25(2–3), 259–284. https://doi.
org/10.1080/01638539809545028

Madsen, H., & Ulhøi, J. P. (2015). Stakeholder pressures, environmental 
impact and managerial initiatives of SMEs: a longitudinal study. The Journal of 
Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, 14(1), 13–26. https://journal-tes.ruc.dk/wp-
content/uploads/2021/05/No_2_Henning_Madsen-1.pdf 

Maeda, A., Araujo, E., Cashin, C., Harris, J., Ikegami, N., & Reich, M. R. (2014). 
Universal health coverage for inclusive and sustainable: A synthesis of 11 country 
case studies. The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0297-3 

Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of 
explanation, prediction and delight. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 36–44.  
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002 

Manzini, E. (2012). Design research for sustainable social innovation. In 
R. Michel (Ed.), Design research now: essays and selected projects (pp. 233–245). 
Birkhäuser. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8472-2_14 

Martin, C. J. (2016). The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a 
nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism? Ecological Economics, 121, 149–159. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.027 

Matzler, K., Veider, V., & Kathan, W. (2015). Adapting to the sharing economy. 
MIT Sloan Managment Review, 56(2), 71–77. 

McMullen, J. S. (2011). Delineating the domain of development entrepreneurship: 
A market-based approach to facilitating inclusive economic growth. Entrepreneurship 
Theory and Practice, 35(1), 185–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00428.x 

Mort, G. S., Weerawardena, J., & Carnegie, K. (2003). Social entrepreneurship: 
towards conceptualisation. Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing, 8(1), 76–88.  
https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.202 

https://changing-sp.com/
https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu05.2018.102
https://doi.org/10.2478/zireb-2018-0005
https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2015.1085100
https://doi.org/10.1080/01638539809545028
https://doi.org/10.1080/01638539809545028
https://journal-tes.ruc.dk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/No_2_Henning_Madsen-1.pdf
https://journal-tes.ruc.dk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/No_2_Henning_Madsen-1.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0297-3
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8472-2_14
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.027
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00428.x
https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.202


118 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). (2006). UK presidency: EU 
ministerial informal on sustainable communities policy papers.

Qiang, M., Bian, Z., & Liu, Y. (2016). Analysis and research of the influence of 
taxi subsidy scheme on urban taxi-hailing difficulties. In Proceedings of the 2nd 
International Conference on Education Technology, Management and Humanities 
Science (ETMHS 2016), Beijing, China, January 23–24, 2016 (pp. 836–841). Atlantis 
Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/etmhs-16.2016.180 

Pargman, D., Eriksson, E. & Friday, A. (2016). Limits to the sharing economy.  
In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Computing within Limits (LIMITS ‘16), Irvine, 
CA, USA, June 9–10, 2016 (Article 12). https://doi.org/10.1145/2926676.2926683 

Phillips, W., Lee, H., Ghobadian, A., O’Regan, N., & James, P. (2015). Social 
innovation and social entrepreneurship: A systematic review. Group & Organization 
Management, 40(3), 428–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601114560063 

Phills Jr., J. A., Deiglmeier, K., & Miller, D. T. (2008). Rediscovering social 
innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 6(4), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.48558/
GBJY-GJ47 

Plewnia, F., & Guenther, E. (2018). Mapping the sharing economy for 
sustainability research. Management Decision, 56(3), 570–583. https://doi.
org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0766 

Rahdari, A., Sepasi, S., & Moradi, M. (2017). Achieving sustainability through 
Schumpeterian social entrepreneurship: The role of social enterprises. Journal of 
Cleaner Production, 137, 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.159 

Ramani, S. V., SadreGhazi, S., & Gupta, S. (2017). Catalysing innovation 
for social impact: The role of social enterprises in the Indian sanitation sector. 
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 121, 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
techfore.2016.10.015 

Ratten, V. (2018). Sport entrepreneurship: Developing and sustaining an 
entrepreneurial sports culture. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73010-3 

Rauniyar, G., & Kanbur, R. (2010). Inclusive development: Two papers on 
conceptualization, application, and the ADB perspective [Working Paper 57036]. 
Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management. https://doi.
org/10.22004/ag.econ.57036 

Rifkin, J. (2014). The zero marginal cost society: The Internet of things, the 
collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism. St. Martin’s Griffin.

Robinson, J. (2006). Navigating social and institutional barriers to markets: How 
social entrepreneurs identify and evaluate opportunities. In J. Mair, J. Robinson, & 
K. Hockerts (Eds.), Social entrepreneurship (pp. 95–120). Macmillan. https://doi.
org/10.1057/9780230625655_7 

https://doi.org/10.2991/etmhs-16.2016.180
https://doi.org/10.1145/2926676.2926683
https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601114560063
https://doi.org/10.48558/GBJY-GJ47
https://doi.org/10.48558/GBJY-GJ47
https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0766
https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0766
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.159
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.10.015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.10.015
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73010-3
https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.57036
https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.57036
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625655_7
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625655_7


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 119

Santos, F. M. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of 
Business Ethics, 111, 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4 

Schor, J. B., & Fitzmaurice, C. J. (2015). Collaborating and connecting: the 
emergence of the sharing economy. In L. A. Reisch & J. Thøgersen (Eds.), Handbook 
of research on sustainable consumption (pp. 410–425). Edward Elgar. https://doi.
org/10.4337/9781783471270 

Schumpeter, J. A. (1994). History of economic analysis. Routledge. (Originally 
published 1954)

Schwanholz, J., & Leipold, S. (2020). Sharing for a circular economy? An analysis 
of digital sharing platforms’ principles and business models. Journal of Cleaner 
Production, 269, 122327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122327 

Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2004). Entrepreneurs in service of the poor: Models for 
business contributions to sustainable development (IESE Occasional Paper 04/16, 
pp. 1–9). IESE Business School, Universidad de Navarra. https://media.iese.edu/
research/pdfs/OP-04-16-E.pdf 

Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2017). Innovation and scaling for impact: How 
effective social enterprises do it. Stanford University Press. https://doi.
org/10.1515/9781503600997 

Sharpley, R. (2000). Tourism and sustainable development: Exploring 
the theoretical divide. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8(1), 1–19. https://doi.
org/10.1080/09669580008667346 

Sheldon, P. J., Dredge, D., & Daniele, R. (2017). Moving tourism social 
entrepreneurship forward: Agendas for research and education. In P. Sheldon 
& R. Daniele (Eds.), Social entrepreneurship and tourism. Tourism on the verge 
(pp. 317–332). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46518-0_19 

Short, J. C., Moss, T. W., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2009). Research in social 
entrepreneurship: past contributions and future opportunities. Strategic 
Entrepreneurship Journal, 3(2), 161–194. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.69 

Soubbotina, T. P. (2004). Beyond economic growth: An introduction to 
sustainable development (2nd ed.). Stand Alone Books. https://doi.org/10.1596/0-
8213-5933-9 

Stephan, U., Uhlaner, L. M., & Stride C. (2015). Institutions and social 
entrepreneurship: The role of institutional voids, institutional support, and 
institutional configurations. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(3), 308–331.  
https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2014.38 

Steurer, R., & Konrad, A. (2009). Business-society relations in Central-Eastern 
and Western Europe: How those who lead in sustainability reporting bridge the gap in 

https://changing-sp.com/
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783471270
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783471270
https://ezproxy.urfu.ru:2123/science/journal/09596526
https://ezproxy.urfu.ru:2123/science/journal/09596526
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122327
https://media.iese.edu/research/pdfs/OP-04-16-E.pdf
https://media.iese.edu/research/pdfs/OP-04-16-E.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503600997
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503600997
https://doi.org/10.1080/09669580008667346
https://doi.org/10.1080/09669580008667346
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46518-0_19
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Todd-Moss-2?_sg%5B0%5D=h1WJlSFsEzAFQComrN7h9dFmnQgJ8Bq6mimhpJy0FOAiuVbdFVKUAsMfvr744-Tedxj5Tkk.1O55WZas2P34YqoR-IvQwAIBV__fYlKBlSeznogfWA2zS7zpGYwi45S336TwJExMAcp301cVjOzM8yOZ-j3FXQ&_sg%5B1%5D=7XHsDAug5ga9NaVdoPycEXr65XhogJxHPdmGjxR4LIsBX6GTRjVXvKwZykV9tLZCe6SB1zo.IcAqm8lCD8_65tK2ycdf98KcAfoRKEHpAmhi0VkfUAsYvr6TZyTQ_oMu32l9Le_fvEOkVYz3b9vE_xjBGtRG7w
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/G-Lumpkin?_sg%5B0%5D=h1WJlSFsEzAFQComrN7h9dFmnQgJ8Bq6mimhpJy0FOAiuVbdFVKUAsMfvr744-Tedxj5Tkk.1O55WZas2P34YqoR-IvQwAIBV__fYlKBlSeznogfWA2zS7zpGYwi45S336TwJExMAcp301cVjOzM8yOZ-j3FXQ&_sg%5B1%5D=7XHsDAug5ga9NaVdoPycEXr65XhogJxHPdmGjxR4LIsBX6GTRjVXvKwZykV9tLZCe6SB1zo.IcAqm8lCD8_65tK2ycdf98KcAfoRKEHpAmhi0VkfUAsYvr6TZyTQ_oMu32l9Le_fvEOkVYz3b9vE_xjBGtRG7w
https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.69
https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-5933-9
https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-5933-9
https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2014.38


120 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

corporate (social) responsibility. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(1), 23–36. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2008.11.001 

Sun, H., Mohsin, M., Alharthi, M., & Abbas, Q. (2020). Measuring environmental 
sustainability performance of South Asia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 251, 119519. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119519 

Sundararajan, A. (2013, January 03). From Zipcar to the sharing economy. 
Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/01/from-zipcar-to-the-sharing-eco 

Sundararajan, A. (2016). The sharing economy: The end of employment and the 
rise of crowd-based capitalism. MIT Press. 

Vachon, S., & Mao, Z. (2008). Linking supply chain strength to sustainable 
development: a country-level analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(15),  
1552–1560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.04.012 

Veretennikova, A. Yu. (2020). Vliianie tsifrovizatsii institutsional’noi sredy na 
razvitie dolevoi ekonomiki [The impact of the institutional environment digitalization 
on the sharing economy development]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Seria 
Ekonomika = Perm University Herald. Economy, 15(3), 329–343. https://doi.
org/10.17072/1994-9960-2020-3-329-343 

Wanyama, F. O. (2014). Cooperatives and the sustainable development 
goals: A contribution to the post-2015 development debate. International Labour 
Organization. https://www.ilo.org/empent/Publications/WCMS_306072/lang--en/
index.htm 

WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development). (1987). Our 
common future. Oxford University Press. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/
content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf 

Williams, C. C., & Horodnic, I. A. (2017). Regulating the sharing economy to 
prevent the growth of the informal sector in the hospitality industry. International 
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(9), 2261–2278. https://doi.
org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2016-0431 

Wruk, D., Oberg, A., Klutt, J., & Maurer, I. (2019). The presentation of self as 
good and right: How value propositions and business model features are linked in 
the sharing economy. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(4), 997–1021. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s10551-019-04209-5 

Zervas, G., Proserpio, D., & Byers, J. (2016). The rise of the sharing economy: 
Estimating the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry [Research Paper No. 2013-16]. 
Boston University School of Management. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2366898 

Zhang, D., Morse, S., & Kambhampati, U. (2017). Sustainable development and 
corporate social responsibility. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315749495 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2008.11.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119519
https://hbr.org/2013/01/from-zipcar-to-the-sharing-eco
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.04.012
https://doi.org/10.17072/1994-9960-2020-3-329-343
https://doi.org/10.17072/1994-9960-2020-3-329-343
https://www.ilo.org/empent/Publications/WCMS_306072/lang--en/index.htm
https://www.ilo.org/empent/Publications/WCMS_306072/lang--en/index.htm
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2016-0431
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2016-0431
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04209-5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04209-5
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2366898
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315749495


Changing Societies & Personalities, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98–122 121

Appendix 

Table 2
The List of Organizations for Analysis

Company Country Type Sphere
Index 
of the 
topic 

Probability 
of the text 
relation to 
the topic

Bea UK Social entrepreneurship Employment 5 0.9868873

Era92 UK Social entrepreneurship Design and technology 5 0.9927051

Millie Giving USA Social entrepreneurship Donation 5 0.99074644

FreeWill USA Social entrepreneurship Consulting 1 0.9933407

Rooted School USA Social entrepreneurship Education 2 0.99449664

YesCacao USA Social entrepreneurship Production 4 0.99380136

Madison Grace 
Boutiaue USA Social entrepreneurship Production 5 0.9891996

CNote USA Social entrepreneurship Found 4 0.99722916

Branden Harvey USA Social entrepreneurship Media 2 0.9791897

Vera USA Social entrepreneurship Ecology 1 0.99246365

Unlocked USA Social entrepreneurship Employment 5 0.9854808

Panion USA Social entrepreneurship Employment 3 0.98748225

Cape Cod USA Social entrepreneurship IT 2 0.9934011

mauiraw USA Social entrepreneurship Food production 4 0.9975811

TribesforGOOD USA Social entrepreneurship Education 5 0.98888355

folksandtales USA Social entrepreneurship Production 3 0.9933092

venturewithimpact USA Social entrepreneurship Work and travel 4 0.99319035

Mauro USA Social entrepreneurship Agriculture 1 0.9870728

NataKellam USA Social entrepreneurship Education 5 0.99438983

Silvernest USA Sharing economy Renting 1 0.97181207

Couchsurfers USA Sharing economy Renting 3 0.9884213

At Fiverr USA Sharing economy Employment 3 0.9686699

network.fon USA Sharing economy IT 1 0.99174255

Fat llama USA Sharing economy Renting 1 0.9962474

https://changing-sp.com/


122 Evgeny V. Popov, Anna Yu. Veretennikova, Kseniya M. Kozinskaya

Company Country Type Sphere
Index 
of the 
topic 

Probability 
of the text 
relation to 
the topic

Aarp USA Sharing economy IT

1
2
3
4
5

0.010198279
0.010030525
0.9595116
0.010167937
0.01009168

Dolly USA Sharing economy Renting 4 0.9965199

Spotahome USA Sharing economy Renting 3 0.99276215

Ola India Sharing economy Transport 1 0.9938339

Careem UAE Sharing economy Finance 1 0.98475534

The Balance USA Sharing economy Consulting 5 0.99049836

Poshmark USA Sharing economy Ecommerce 1 0.9648382

Sittercity USA Sharing economy Marketplace 4 0.99409854

Eatwith USA Sharing economy Entertainment 5 0.99432355

99designs USA Sharing economy Design 4 0.9941824

Foodcharing Germany Sharing economy Food sharing 4 0.9947868

Startnext Germany Sharing economy Crowd funding 1 0.99670476

Skillharbour USA Sharing economy Services 13
0.020016285
0.97631294

FREIFUNK USA Sharing economy IT, education 4 0.99250764

COMMON USA Sharing economy Housing and renting 1 0.98884165

Table 2 Continued