Scaling up social entrepreneurship to reduce poverty : Exploring the challenges and opportunities through stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement is critical in state-driven social entrepreneurship programs. This engagement is based on the principle of mutual benefit in partnering through the parties' contributions following their respective roles and capacities. This paper explores stakeholder engagement in social entrepreneurship programs in Indonesia. This program is a program of the Indonesian government to reduce poverty. The issue of poverty is the primary concern of the Indonesian government and the international world. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted increasing poverty because many people have lost their jobs due to policies limiting activities (Laborde et al., 2021). In addition to the ongoing social protection program, the Indonesian government is also working to reduce poverty through the Social Entrepreneurship Program.

Social Entrepreneurship is one of the essential factors in sustainable economic development (Lateh et al., 2018). Social entrepreneurship is different from entrepreneurship because it has a social mission and is not only concerned with profit. This program improves the poor's economic welfare by combining business and social dimensions. Research in the South Punjab region of Pakistan shows that empowerment through social entrepreneurship can significantly reduce poverty (Abrar ul haq et al., 2019).

Some parts of Tehran, Iran, implement empowerment strategies through social entrepreneurship to lift marginalized people from poverty (Sadabadi and Rahimi Rad, 2021). Social entrepreneurship can contribute to 10% of the gross domestic product in Kenya (Ngare, 2021). South Korea and Malaysia can increase regional economic growth by creating jobs (Doh, 2020; Mustaffa et al., 2020). Thus, this literature argues that poverty can be overcome through social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship leads to increased innovation, employment opportunities, and access to capital. In the end, social entrepreneurship will succeed with sustainable development.

The Indonesian government implements social entrepreneurship programs in collaboration with non-state actors. This is what distinguishes between developing countries and developed countries. Most entrepreneurship in developed countries is supported by large companies that do not depend on state funding. This paper explores the involvement of stakeholders from two groups, namely state, and non-state. Our research also examines the relationship between state and non-state actors in negotiating program implementation. We also look at the impact of involving different stakeholders on the beneficiary communities.

This paper will answer three main hypotheses: first, each stakeholder group's role is expected to be a complementary relationship. Second, programs offered by the state will be accepted by non-state actors. Third, programs that involve many stakeholders will have a good impact on beneficiaries.