Purpose Empowerment of women by social enterprises in emerging economies has received attention from researchers. This paper aims to study three social enterprises in India that aim to empower subsistence women entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach A comparative case analysis of three social enterprises is done to develop understanding of systems and processes adopted by them. Sources such as published journal and news articles, case studies, success stories and official websites are used for data collection. Findings The study found that all three organisations strive to increase the asset base of members by organizing disempowered subsistence producers lacking market power; extending services throughout the value chain, i.e. from raw material supply to marketing of products; ploughing back regular incomes and bonuses through mechanisms acceptable to all members; and empowering subsistence producers to gain market power and ability to choose. The interventions give market exposure and voice to the concerns of women producers. These organisations successfully leverage the strength of their relations with civil society and markets in sustaining the business. Women empowerment was found to be achieved through regular income, collective voice, ability to take decisions and creation of social value. Research limitations/implications This paper does not take into consideration enterprises promoted by government. Practical implications A conceptual framework is suggested in this paper along with insights for organisations interested in collectivising subsistence women for empowering them. Originality/value The conceptual framework provided in this paper enriches the understanding of social enterprises working with the objective of women empowerment.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse interventions of various forms of organisations operating with the objective of connecting subsistence entrepreneurs (SEs) with the formal economy. This work also attempts to understand and analyse the transformational role played by these organisations. Finally, the paper aims to arrive at a conceptual framework for organisations interested in playing a transformational role. Design/methodology/approach The paper deals with subsistence entrepreneurship and business models for subsistence economies. It draws from case studies of six organisations operating with the objective to connect subsistence entrepreneurs with formal economy. Each case chosen is unique with respect to the organisational form it takes to achieve the objective. However, a lot of similarity can be seen in the components of the business model adopted by these organisations. Findings Organisations which emerge keeping the context of rural producers in mind survive and support SEs in the long run. SEs need not always get converted into transformational entrepreneurs. However, with the help of organisations which collectivise SEs, they can interact with formal economy. Such organisations help large numbers of SEs to sustain and possibly move out of subsistence status over a period of time. These organisations have to fill the voids left by government or market institutions so as to create enabling conditions for SEs to thrive. Despite the efforts of the organisations, it is not possible for all SEs to move out of their subsistence status and existence in informal markets. However, it is possible in case of some SEs at least, as the institutional support gives them more certainty in incomes. Research limitations/ implications The paper does not take a business model adopted by government institution for the purpose of analysis. Practical implications The paper offers practical suggestions for organisations interested in collectivising SEs with the aim to improve their returns from market transactions. Originality/value The paper offers a conceptual framework to enrich the understanding of role played by organisations working towards collectivising SEs. It adds to the debate of subsistence entrepreneurship and transformational entrepreneurship. It elaborates the elements of social capital created by these organisations at the meso level. Finally, it re-emphasises the strengths of informal economy to support the customer value proposition for formal markets.

This paper considers the problem of a decision maker (DM), who needs to hire an agent to assess the probability of occurrence of an event that is of interest to her. To decide the agent's reward, the DM proposes a mechanism that will give reward based on the agent's reported subjective probability and the actual outcome of the event. The reward mechanism needs to incentivize the expert to honestly reveal his subjective probability, and the reward has to be non-negative in all cases in order to ensure agent's participation. In such a situation, it is possible that there are some agents who lack the expertise to assess the situation, but still participate to get sure non-negative payoff. The DM wants to screen out such uninformed agents from the informed ones. This work considers two mechanisms, and analyzes the behavior of both types of agents for the two mechanisms. It shows that screening is possible along with belief elicitation in some cases.

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