Digital transformation as a factor of institutional environment change or social entrepreneurship

The article analyses the impact of digital transformation on the institutional environment of social entrepreneurship. The aim of the research is to identify the mechanisms through which digitalisation changes the formal and informal institutions regulating the activities of social enterprises and to assess the implications of these changes for the sustainability and scalability of social business. The methodological framework includes the principles of new institutional economic theory (D. North, O. Williamson), the concept of social entrepreneurship (G. Dees, J. Mair) and digital economy research approaches. The methods of institutional and comparative analysis, content analysis of regulatory legal acts, and generalisation of empirical data from Russian and foreign studies of 2018–2025 were applied. It is established that digital transformation acts as a systemic factor of institutional change along four directions: reduction of transaction costs, formation of new legitimation channels, transformation of social impact assessment mechanisms, and the emergence of hybrid platform–based organisational forms. The thesis of «digital institutional duality», in which traditional formal institutions coexist with algorithmic regulation mechanisms, is substantiated. Proposals for improving state policy of social entrepreneurship support under digitalisation are formulated, including the development of digital registers of social enterprises, the introduction of social impact measurement standards, and the stimulation of cross– sectoral partnerships.

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