The non profit sector as a foundation for the interaction among the social economy, the public sector and the market
In this chapter we illustrate how the public sector might fail in narrowing spatial inequalities, and how both underdeveloped markets and urgent territorial needs create in peripheral areas robust individual incentives to turn into non-profit activities or even household production. In all those situations, a well-developed non-profit sector can offer marginalized or excluded social groups a legal and ethical opportunity to obtain a decent income by offering rewards (monetary or nonmonetary) in exchange for volunteering, allowing households to afford the cost of living.