Identifying Social Entrepreneurs Servingthe Poor at the BoP

The concept of social entrepreneurship as a characterization of social responsibility forbusiness organizations has gained considerable popularity. There is growing belief ininternational development and donor communities that this form of for‐profit activitymight be the long‐sought panacea for solving poverty at the so‐called Base of the Pyramid(BoP) ‐‐ the poorest segment of the society. Yet, there is no consensus within thesecommunities as to what constitutes social entrepreneurship, and how the BoP is defined.Confusion arises from the absence of generally accepted definitions for both terms, leavingmuch scope for some conventional for‐profit activities to assert a higher social servicestatus. This paper attempts to clarify what constitutes social entrepreneurship serving theBOP segment of the population, and how the BoP may be defined to better represent thepoor....