We study connections between business practices, market structures and various social outcomes. Through faculty research, practitioner colloquia, and global programs we seek to answer important questions about poverty and prosperity.
Social Enterprise @ Goizueta
Research
Research for Business and Society
Entrepreneurship Database Program

Social Enterprise @ Goizueta
We collect and analyze data from 19,000 early-stage entrepreneurs from more than 250 accelerator programs to produce sector reports, support academic research, and provide actionable feedback to program operators in the field particularly those working in developing regions and/or focused on impact entrepreneurs. This research inspired the creation of the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI) which SE@G supports in partnership with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).
Observing Acceleration

Social Enterprise @ Goizueta
Professor Peter W. Roberts new book "Observing Acceleration," co-authored by former ANDE researcher Saurabh A. Lall. The book summarizes five years of learning from data collected as part of the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI) which partners directly with entrepreneur support programs around the world to track and validate program impacts while producing critical sector-wide research. The book serves as a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the effectiveness of accelerator programs as tools that unleash the full economic potential of entrepreneurship.

Research and Practitioner Colloquia
Annually, SE@G convenes academic researchers and practitioners from the fields of global entrepreneurship acceleration, urban U.S. micro-business development, and specialty coffee market transparency via three separate colloquium events:
The Entrepreneurship Research Colloquium brings together more than 30 faculty from more than institutions with a focus on early-stage research projects that either work with or study entrepreneur accelerator programs. The gathering culminates with a Practitioner Forum that connects researchers with entrepreneurship support organization leaders. The colloquium is conducted in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation.
The Microbusiness Support and Development Colloquium convenes more than 20 practitioners leading innovative, small business support programs targeting underserved communities to facilitate collective learning and problem-solving that stimulates ongoing collaboration. The colloquium is supported by sponsor Northern Trust.
The Specialty Coffee Transparency Colloquium gathers direct trade specialty coffee buyers, roasters, and other stakeholders to discuss market transparency standards, processes, tools, and research projects. The colloquium is hosted by Transparent Trade Coffee.
The Entrepreneurship Research Colloquium brings together more than 30 faculty from more than institutions with a focus on early-stage research projects that either work with or study entrepreneur accelerator programs. The gathering culminates with a Practitioner Forum that connects researchers with entrepreneurship support organization leaders. The colloquium is conducted in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation.
The Microbusiness Support and Development Colloquium convenes more than 20 practitioners leading innovative, small business support programs targeting underserved communities to facilitate collective learning and problem-solving that stimulates ongoing collaboration. The colloquium is supported by sponsor Northern Trust.
The Specialty Coffee Transparency Colloquium gathers direct trade specialty coffee buyers, roasters, and other stakeholders to discuss market transparency standards, processes, tools, and research projects. The colloquium is hosted by Transparent Trade Coffee.
Select Faculty Research Papers & Projects
Social Enterprise & Impact Entrepreneurship Ecosystems
- The Profit Orientation of Microfinance Institutions and Effective Interest Rates. Peter W. Roberts. Published in World Development (2013)
- Are We Accelerating Investment into Impact-Oriented Ventures … and Would It Have Happened Anyway? Peter W. Roberts. Presented at the 2018 Academy of Management Annual Meeting
- Social Businesses in Developing Countries. Wesley Longhofer & Peter W. Roberts
- The Appearance and Social Performance of Certified B Corporations. Peter W. Roberts
- Observing Acceleration: Uncovering the Effects of Accelerators on Impact-Oriented Entrepreneurs. Peter W. Roberts. Published by Palgrave-MacMillan (2018)
Climate Change & Environment
- National and Global Origins of Environmental Association. Wesley Longhofer. Published in American Sociological Review (2010)
- Targeting Electricity's Extreme Polluters to Reduce Energy-Related CO2 Emissions. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (2013)
- NGOs, INGOs, and Social Change: Environmental Policy Reform in the Developing World, 1970-2010. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Social Forces (2016)
- How Organizational and Global Factors Condition the Effects of Energy Efficiency on Rebounds in CO2 Emissions among the World’s Power Plants. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Energy Policy (2016)
- Disproportionality in Power Plants’ Carbon Emissions. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Scientific Reports (2016)
- World Society and the Natural Environment. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Sociology Compass (2017)
- The Effects of Economic and Political Integration on Power Plants’ Carbon Emissions in the Post-Soviet Transition Nations. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Environmental Research Letters (2017)
- Decoupling Reconsidered: Does World Polity Integration Influence the Relationship Between the Environment and Economic Development? Wesley Longhofer. Published in Social Science Research (2017)
- Structural Pathways to Carbon Pollution: The Conjoint Effects of Organizational, World System, and World Society Factors on Power Plants’ CO2 Emissions. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Social Forces (2018)
Nonprofits/NGOs/Foundations
- The Structural Sources of Association. Wesley Longhofer. Published in American Journal of Sociology (2011)
- A Comparative Analysis of Corporate and Independent Foundations. Wesley Longhofer & Peter W. Roberts. Published in Sociological Science (2015)
- Membership has its Privileges: Shared International Organizational Affiliation on Foreign Aid Flows, 1978-2010. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Social Forces (2016)
- Organizing for Education: Cross-National, Longitudinal Study of Civil Society Organizations and Education Outcomes. Wesley Longhofer. Published in Voluntas (2018)
- NGOs and International Development: A Review of Thirty-Five Years of Scholarship. Wesley Longhofer. Published in World Development (2018)
- Challenger Groups, Commercial Organizations, and Policy Enactment: Local Lesbian/Gay Rights Ordinances in the U.S. from 1972 to 2008. Giacomo Negro. Published in American Journal of Sociology (2013)
- Resource Partitioning and the Organizational Dynamics of “Fringe Banking”. Giacomo Negro. Published in American Sociological Review (2014)
- Abortion Liberalization in World Society, 1960-2009. Wesley Longhofer. Published in American Journal of Sociology (2015)
- The Changing Effectiveness of Local Civic Action: The Critical Nexus of Community and Organization. Wesley Longhofer, Giacomo Negro & Peter W. Roberts. Published in Administrative Science Quarterly (2018)