Building local infrastructures of care: social enterprises and the recomposition of social value

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how social enterprises build local infrastructures of care and (re)compose social value in contexts marked by institutional voids in Brazil’s Northeast. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative, multiple case study of five ventures operating in health, education, environment and agriculture. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field visits and documentary evidence and analyzed via within- and cross-case coding to surface convergent and divergent patterns. Findings Across cases, ventures articulate clear social missions and deliver tailored services (e.g. disease awareness, arts-based education, recycling logistics and family-farming commercialization). They compensate for weak formal institutions through bricolage, partnerships, voluntarism and frugal infrastructure. Despite scarce funding, regulatory hurdles and limited facilities, organizations report tangible social value – improved access to services, dignified work, women’s leadership and community well-being – while identifying infrastructure and stable public support as critical bottlenecks. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study stem from a small, regional sample; future research should expand cases, triangulate with beneficiary outcomes and examine longitudinal effects. Practical implications Managers and funders can amplify impact by investing in basic infrastructure and multi-year funding. The findings also provide a roadmap for policymakers to design more effective support mechanisms for social ventures. Social implications Strengthening CSO–state collaboration can institutionalize care practices and scale inclusive development, offering a pathway to address systemic social problems. Originality/value This study advances a care-centric view of social value creation by showing how grassroots organizing functions as infrastructure where the state and markets underperform. This study integrates institutional-voids and social-entrepreneurship lenses to propose mechanisms – mission clarity, local embedding and networked resource mobilization – through which ventures recombine resources into durable care arrangements.