Social Entrepreneurship Research

Social Entrepreneurship is a relatively new academic field. A significant investment has been made by the Brock Social Entrepreneurship program to contribute to the understanding of social enterprise & ethical formation in a Christian context. To that end, faculty members contribute to the global conversation on social enterprise by writing and publishing articles related to two main topics, management of nonprofit/social enterprise organizations and the development of ethical behaviors in business managers. Some sample work from our faculty includes:

  1. Thornton, J. & Lecy, J. (2022) “Net impact of government funding on nonprofit fiscal health: burden or benefit?” Nonprofit Management & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21533

  2. Thornton, J. (2022) Fiscal Shocks and Nonprofit Employment. Applied Economics. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2022.2086963.

  3. Kuan, J. & Thornton, J. (2021) Nonprofits as Multi-Sided Platforms. Academy of Management Review. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2019.0216

  4. Thornton, J.; Stokes, C.; McCarty, S. (2019) An Evangelical Anomaly: Religious Observance and Intertemporal Choice. Religion and Education.

  5. Thornton, J. & Lecy, J. (2019) Good Enough for Government Work? An Incomplete Contracts Approach to the Use of Nonprofits in U.S. Federal Procurement. Nonprofit Policy Forum. https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2019-0037

  6. Thornton, Jeremy & King, David. (2017) Financing Social Enterprise in the very long run. ACRN Oxford Journal of Finance and Risk Perspectives 6.3 - Special Issue FRAM/SSFII: 29-70

  7. Gayle, P.; Harrison, T; & Thornton, J. (2017) Entry, Donor Market Size, and Competitive Conduct among Nonprofits. International Journal of Industrial Organization. (50), 294-318.

  8. Thornton, J; McCarty, S; & Stokes, C. (2017) Divine Restraint: An Experimental Analysis of Religious Preference and Intertemporal Discounting. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (67), 99-110.

  9. Lecy, J. & Thornton, J.(2016) What Big Data Can Tell Us About Government Grants to the Nonprofit Sector: Using the FAADS. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 45(5), 1052-1069. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764015620902

  10. Thornton, J., Lohrke, F., Gonas, J.(2015). The Social Entrepreneur as Trailblazer - A Role for the Social Enterprise in a Market Economy. ACRN Oxford Journal of Finance and Risk Perspectives, 4(4). 145-167. http://www.acrn-journals.eu/resources/jfrp0404i.pdf

  11. Thornton, J. (2014). Flypaper Nonprofits: Federal Grants and Nonprofit Expenditures, Public Finance Review. 42(2), 176-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1091142112446845

  12. Helms, S.; Scott, B. & Thornton, J. (2013). New Experimental Evidence on Charitable Gift Restrictions and Donor Behaviour. Applied Economic Letters, 20(17), pp. 1521-1526.https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2013.829172

  13. Thornton, J. & Helms, S. (2013). Afterlife Incentives in Charitable Giving, Applied Economics, 45(19), 2779-2791. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2012.678984

  14. Helms, S. & Thornton, J. (2012). The Influence of Religiosity on Charitable Behavior: A COPPS Investigation, Journal of Socio-Economics, 41 (4), 373-383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2012.04.003

  15. Helms, S.; Scott, B. & Thornton, J. (2012). Choosing to Give More: Experimental Evidence on Restricted Gifts and Charitable Behavior. Applied Economic Letters, 19 (8), 745-748. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2011.599784

  16. Thornton, J. & Cave, L. (2010). The Effects of Organizational Form in the Mixed Market for Foster Care. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics , 81(2), 211-245. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.2010.00410.x

  17. Thornton, J. (2010). Explaining Unrestricted Giving by Charitable Foundations: A Transaction Cost Approach. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 28(1), 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2009.06.001

  18. Thornton, J., & Belski, W. (2010). Financial Reporting Quality and Price Competition Among Nonprofit Firms. Applied Economics, 42, 2699-2713. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840801964583

  19. Castaneda, M., Garen, J., & Thornton, J. (2008). Competition, Contractibility and the Market for Donors to Nonprofits. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 24 (1), 215-246. https://doi.org/10.1093/jleo/ewm036

  20. Childs, B., Gonas, J., & Thornton, J. (2008). Are Donor Advised Funds Always the Best Economic Choice. Journal of Financial Planning (June).

  21. Thornton, P., & Thornton, J. (2008). Why They Don't Go: Surveying the next Generation of Mission Workers. EMQ (April), 204-210.

  22. Thornton, J. (2006). Nonprofit Fund Raising in Competitive Donor Markets. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35 (2), 204-224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764005285951

  23. Thornton, J., & Thornton, P. (2006). Agency Incentives in International Development Partnerships. Faith & Economics , 46/47 (Spring/Fall), 1-24.

  24. Carden, Art. "A Note on Profit, Loss, and Social Responsibility." New Perspectives on Political Economy, Forthcoming (2009).

  25. Broom, L. S., Thornton, J. P., & Carson, C. M. (2013). Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Uses and Applications in a Social Entrepreneurship Curriculum. Journal of Learning in Higher Education, 9(2), 49-60.

  26. Carden, A., Courtemanche, C., & Meiners, J. (2009). Does Wal-Mart reduce social capital?. Public Choice, 138(1), 109-136.

  27. Hou, J., Eason, C. C., & Zhang, C. (2014). The mediating role of identification with a nonprofit organization in the relationship between competition and charitable behaviors. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 42(6), 1015-1027.

  28. Harris, Reginald Jamar. Community Social Capital, Entrepreneur Network Characteristics, and Firm-Founding. Diss. The Florida State University, 2018.

  29. Harris, R. J. (2018). Community Social Capital, Entrepreneur Network Characteristics, and Firm-Founding (Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University).

  30. Alhouti, S., Johnson, C. M., & Holloway, B. B. (2016). Does authenticity matter in corporate social responsibility acts?. In Rediscovering the Essentiality of Marketing (pp. 399-399). Springer, Cham.

  31. Alhouti, S., Johnson, C. M., & Holloway, B. B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility authenticity: Investigating its antecedents and outcomes. Journal of business research, 69(3), 1242-1249.

  32. Mazzei, M. J., Gangloff, A. K., & Shook, C. L. (2015). Examining multi-level effects on corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility. Management & Marketing, 10(3), 163.

  33. Robert, W., Reburn, J. P., & Loudon, D. L. SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS AND LIBERAL ARTS: EDUCATING FOR GOVERNING.

  34. Carden, A. (2009). A Note on Profit, Loss, and Social Responsibility. New Perspectives on Political Economy, Forthcoming.

  35. Kirkpatrick, N., & Eason, C. C. (2019). Managerial Values: Panel Discussions and Guest Speakers Informing Ethics, Professionalism, and Leadership. Journal of Business Ethics Education, 16, 167-190.

  36. White, D. W., & Lean, E. (2008). The impact of perceived leader integrity on subordinates in a work team environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(4), 765-778.

  37. Woolley, T. W. (2012). Teaching of business statistics in the context of big questions of meaning and value.

  38. Williams, E. A., Pillai, R., McCombs, K. M., & Lowe, K. B. (2021). The roles of character and charisma in evaluating leadership: Effects of dark triad and honesty-humility traits, attributed charisma, and COVID-19 crisis anxiety in rejecting a presidential leadership candidate. Personality and Individual Differences, 181, 111035.

  39. White, D., & Kirkpatrick, N. (2020). The role of biblical theology in teaching a Christian worldview on business. Christian Business Academy Review, 15.

  40. Alhouti, S., Johnson, C. M., & Holloway, B. B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility authenticity: Investigating its antecedents and outcomes. Journal of business research, 69(3), 1242-1249.

The Social Entrepreneurship program also provides local expertise to Alabama, by publishing an occasional Alabama Nonprofit Report.