These two viewpoints are not as divergent as they appear. The unifying premise that entrepreneurs and large corporations both create social value is not really in dispute. What is in dispute is the type and quantity of social value that can be attributed to each. The contrasting views of social entrepreneurship fi nd their parallel in
contrasting views of social value. One view of social value is exemplifi ed by Harvard University economist Robert Barro. Writing in response to a speech by Bill Gates delivered at Harvard University’s commencement exercises earlier that month, Barro (in a June 19, 2007, op-ed in The Wall Street Journal) expressed puzzlement at the fact that Gates focused his remarks on the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation rather than on Microsoft Corp.’s contributions to
society. “By any reasonable calculation Microsoft has been a boon for society,” Barro argued, “and the market value of its software greatly exceeds the likely value of Mr. Gates’ philanthropic eff orts.”