EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY AND BENEFICIARY SATISFACTION OF THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION PROCESS IN CLUJ

Abstract

European social economy is very important both in social and economic terms and it equals about 6.3% of the working population of the European Union (EU). Romanian social economy, likewise other’s recent EU member states, measures less than 2% of the total employment. For a long time, the concepts of social economy and social enterprise were not defined in legal or policy terms leading to confusion among Romanian general population and making it difficult to be measured. Our research assessed the administrative process regarding the procurement of the social enterprise certificate with the aim to identify strengths and weaknesses of the process and formulate recommendations for improvement. The results show that most of respondents are satisfied with the administrative process of getting the social enterprise certificate, but they would prefer an online platform as a mean of communication both during the obtaining and monitoring phases. Furthermore, the sustainability of this sector, satisfaction regarding the administrative process of getting the social enterprise certificate depends on the duration of the administrative process. The findings provide empirical evidence and recommendations that could encourage the development of Romanian social economy.