BOOK REVIEW

Experiences of inclusive business in UruguayOscar Licandro and Lucía Pardo, Avina Foundationand Catholic University of Uruguay. Uruguay. 2013. 280 pages(Spanish), ISBN: 978-9974-631-41-0

Ana Lanero & David Abril

Received: 31 May 2013 /Accepted: 22 July 2013# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

This is a review on Licandro and Pardo’s book Experiences of inclusive business inUruguay, published by the Avina Foundation and the Catholic University of Uruguay,in 2013. Specifically, the original Spanish version of the book (Experiencias denegocios inclusivos en Uruguay) is reviewed.

Generally speaking, the concept of inclusive business has been used in reference to aset of experiences of social inclusion emerged in the 2000s in Latin America, Asia andAfrica, in the context of different models of associative entrepreneurship promoted bypoor people. This concept has evolved from the idea of “Business at the Base of thePyramid” proposed in 2002 by C. K. Prahalad, who affirmed that large multinationalcorporations may well be able to attain their financial goals through the development ofgoods and services oriented to the poorest segments of the population.

Int Rev Public Nonprofit MarkDOI 10.1007/s12208-013-0098-4

A. Lanero (*) : D. AbrilFaculty of Economics and Business Sciences, University of León, Campus de Vegazana s/n,24071 León, Spaine-mail: ana.lanero@unileon.es

D. Abrile-mail: d.abril@unileon.es

Even when theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of this strategy ofsocial and economic inclusion are still very incipient, the existence of a great numberof successful experiences serves as foundation for the hypothesis that inclusivebusiness represents an efficient strategy to address the problem of poverty in somesegments at the base of the pyramid. In line with this, such a kind of initiatives have agreat potential to create conditions for sustainable economic inclusion, which in turnmake it possible the improvement in the access to goods and services, the develop-ment of social and relational capital, and a better capacity to exercise citizen rights.

In the book Experiences of inclusive business in Uruguay, the authors present theresults of an empirical research based on the study of 16 cases, in an attempt toidentify and describe good practices of inclusive business’ creation and management,with special emphasis on the role of the institutional support provided by enterprises,civil society organizations and governments. In this context, the main contribution ofthe work derives from the comparative analysis of the cases presented, which lead theauthors to propose some analytic tools very useful for practitioners.

From this general framework, the book is divided into five sections. The firstsection describes the evolution of the concept and summarizes the contributions ofthe academics of reference in the area, just as those of the institutional actors whopromote it. Also, Licandro and Pardo propose inclusive business as a new way toaddress the problem of poverty, given its ability to overcome previous strategiesbased on assistance and voluntary approaches. As opposite to these previous per-spectives, inclusive business allows, in an effective way, generation of ascendantsocial inclusion and mobility, through the incorporation of collectives at the base ofthe pyramid to the market economy.

The second section of the book describes six cases of inclusive business in ruralareas. The analysis of these experiences shows the high potential of this strategy astool for social exclusion of poor collectives in rural localities. From this view, it isshown that, unlike most poor people in urban areas, rural disadvantaged citizens haveproper competences (work habits, expertise in some technique, etc.) and access toresources (especially, land and animals), which make it easy the establishment ofinclusive business initiatives.

Third and fourth sections describe ten cases of inclusive business started bycollectives at the base of the pyramid in urban areas. Particularly, the third sectionfocuses on the experience of collectives in Uruguay devoted to extract recyclingresidues from public containers. Known as “hurgadores” (Uruguay), “catadores”(Brasil), or “cartoneros” (Argentina),1 the activity of this people represents a serioussocial and environmental problem, but is also understood as an exercise of socialcoexistence and human rights. In the same line, the fourth section describes someother experiences in urban contexts. In sum, the authors conclude that some initia-tives of inclusive business lead this population to enjoy significant social improve-ments in terms of economic incomes, work security and health, quality of life, andaccess to public services.

Finally, the fifth section of the book focuses on the transversal comparativeanalysis of the experiences described in previous sections. In this context, the authorspropose some conceptual tools based on the identification of seven contextual

1 In English, these terms can be translated as “people who rummage”.

A. Lanero, D. Abril

triggers, which are referred as an “opportunity sector” for the creation of inclusivebusiness. In the same respect, Licandro and Pardo set a typology to classify differentmodels of inclusive business according to their value chain position or their impli-cations for intervention. In this context, the contribution of institutional supports forthe establishment of inclusive entrepreneurship is also discussed. The section endswith a chapter of suggestions and recommendations for the design of a better strategyof inclusive business development in Uruguay.

Experiences of inclusive business in Uruguay