Empresas de Inserción ("Insertion companies" or "EI's") are businesses within the Spanish social economy. EIs are a special type of

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

that focus on

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

for the most disadvantaged and excluded.

Spanish law The Law of Spain is the legislation in force in the Kingdom of Spain, which is understood to mean Spanish territory, Spanish waters, consulates and embassies, and ships flying the Spanish flag in democratically elected institutions. Characterist ...

for "Empresas de Inserción" defines them as follows: " nintegration enterprise or cooperative

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

that, legally constituted and duly qualified by relevant regional organizations in this field, performs any

economic activity Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyse ...

of producing

goods and services Goods are items that are usually (but not always) tangible, such as pens or Apple, apples. Services are activities provided by other people, such as teachers or barbers. Taken together, it is the Production (economics), production, distributio ...

, designed to make arrangements for

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

and social and labor training of people experiencing

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

as a transition to regular employment. "For these purposes, it must rotectworkers from extreme and difficult situations, ndas part of their pathways to integration, stablishcustom processes, assist in paid work, ndtrain in the

workplace A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of the ...

nlabor and social

habituation Habituation is a form of non-associative learning in which an organism’s non-reinforced response to an inconsequential stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged presentations of that stimulus. For example, organisms may habituate to re ...

. Also, these companies should have intervention or support services to facilitate labor insertion subsequent oincorporation into the regular

labor market Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...

".Spanish Law of "Empresas de Inserción": LEY 44/2007, de 13 de diciembre, para la regulación del régimen de las empresas de inserción. From 2000 to 2002, the 12 areas surveyed had a total of 14,200 EI in 40 different

business structure Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

s. The vast majority of EI in Spain are in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Country and in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

.{{citation needed, date=September 2012

References

Social entrepreneurship Economy of Spain