Social enterprises in the shadow of the State

Despite growing interest in social enterprises and public value creation, little attention has been paid to how social enterprises create public value in contexts of state retrenchment and institutional voids. This paper examines FOQUS (FOndazione QUartieri Spagnoli) in Naples through a longitudinal qualitative case study. We identify three mechanisms underpinning public value creation—strategic flexibility, multi-stakeholder ecosystem governance, and storytelling—and four related challenges. Findings show that social enterprises create public value not only through collaboration with public actors but also through autonomous action in the shadow of the State, revealing tensions that characterise public value creation in institutional weak contexts.