Social Enterprises and Employment: Mainstreaming SMEs and Employment Creation

This paper argues that mainstreaming SMEs and SE into various international treaties will require the assumption of positive externalities which markets cannot fully evaluate. To show this, the possible influence that SEs may have on SME development and eventually on employment will be discussed. Through this paper, the importance of providing such public goods to SME development will be highlighted. This study shall provide inputs to the analytical framework for the Philippines’ engagement in APEC under the priority theme of “Mainstreaming Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Employment Creation” and shall make concrete recommendations on how employment can be created through the formation of social enterprises or socially inclusive companies.