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Social Investment

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lightbulbAbout this topic
Social investment refers to the allocation of resources, typically financial, aimed at generating social benefits alongside a financial return. It encompasses strategies that address social issues through market-based solutions, promoting sustainable development and social equity while fostering economic growth.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Social investment refers to the allocation of resources, typically financial, aimed at generating social benefits alongside a financial return. It encompasses strategies that address social issues through market-based solutions, promoting sustainable development and social equity while fostering economic growth.

Key research themes

1. How do social finance and impact investing approaches influence the realization and evaluation of responsible innovation and social impact?

This research area explores the role of social finance (SF) and impact investing in supporting and scaling responsible innovation (RI) and social sector organizations. It is crucial for understanding how capital can be mobilized not merely for financial returns but for social and environmental impact, and how such impact is evaluated and valued. Addressing funding barriers, investor selection criteria, and impact measurement frameworks, this body of work investigates the alignment of entrepreneurial activities with social missions, the principles that guide investment decisions, and methods to quantify social returns, which are pivotal for expanding the efficacy and legitimacy of social investments.

Key finding: The study reveals that social finance investors select ventures based on a multifaceted set of criteria including entrepreneurial motivation, ESG commitments, and alignment with impact objectives, even when explicit knowledge... Read more
Key finding: Through a systematic review of 114 studies, this article conceptualizes impact investing in social sector organizations into four research streams: decision making, impact evaluation, behavioral issues, and the ecosystem. It... Read more
Key finding: This paper draws parallels and distinctions between Social Return on Investment (SROI) and traditional Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), providing critical insights into measurement challenges such as monetizing social outcomes... Read more
Key finding: This work explicates the SROI methodology, defining it as a process that monetizes social, environmental, and economic outcomes to generate a ratio reflecting the social value created per unit of investment. By mapping... Read more

2. What are the political and institutional factors driving the variation in adoption and expansion of social investment policies across democracies?

This theme concentrates on the comparative political economy underpinning differences in social investment agendas and reforms across countries. It addresses how institutional legacies, political coalitions, actor interests, and governance structures influence the design, timing, and extent of social investment policies. The insights assist academics in understanding why seemingly similar societal challenges produce heterogeneous policy responses, enabling the evaluation of mechanisms that facilitate or impede social investment reforms globally.

Key finding: The WoPSI project identifies political coalitions and institutional embeddedness as key explanatory variables for the wide variance in social investment agendas and policy reforms. Comparative analysis across Latin America,... Read more

3. How do social entrepreneurship, social innovation, and social enterprise concepts interrelate, and what is the role of the 'social' in shaping these phenomena?

This research theme investigates the conceptual and operational boundaries and interconnections between social entrepreneurship, social innovation, and social enterprise. It examines how the 'social' dimension constitutes the core of these fields, influencing organizational models, strategies, and outcomes aimed at generating social value. Understanding this nexus is significant for scholars developing coherent theoretical frameworks and for practitioners designing mission-driven organizations that address grand societal challenges through innovative and sustainable approaches.

Key finding: The systematic literature review elucidates the fragmented state of scholarship on social innovation and social entrepreneurship, emphasizing a lack of consensus on definitions and the centrality of 'social' as the connecting... Read more
Key finding: This chapter differentiates social innovation and social entrepreneurship by unpacking their intellectual heritages and functional distinctions, proposing that social entrepreneurship focuses more explicitly on agent-driven... Read more
Key finding: Drawing on sociological theories of social capital, the chapter argues that social capital—networks of trust and collaboration—acts as a foundational resource enhancing social innovation and supporting social enterprises. It... Read more

All papers in Social Investment

Purpose: Conflict and disability are closely associated; it is therefore significant to examine strategies at the grassroots-level for restoring the human rights of people with disabilities living in post-conflict societies. The aim of... more
Ostrzeżenia z 2017 roku tak naprawdę zaczęły się w 1981 roku od ostrzeżenia dla FBI. W skrócie, 18 października 1981 roku wszedłem do biura FBI w Toledo w stanie Ohio z pisemnym, bardzo długim, szczegółowym, konkretnym i poświadczonym... more
La crisi abitativa che colpisce molte città italiane ha specificità che devono essere attentamente contestualizzate al fine di predisporre adeguate strategie di risposta. La crisi riguarda in particolare il mercato degli affitti in tutte... more
Travailler mieux, en la editorial PUF. Conviene recordar que la primera es catedrática en el Conservatorio nacional de las artes y oficios, miembro del laboratorio LIRSA y directora del Centro de estudios del empleo y del trabajo. Sus... more
Per comprendere un fenomeno occorre osservarlo in due modi: dall’alto e da dentro. L’occhio dell’osservatore, deve percorrere continuamente su e giù una traiettoria verticale. Questa metodologia è stata sperimentata e utilizzata da un... more
La questione dell’affitto rivela il nesso tra disuguaglianze sociali, trasformazioni urbane e accesso ai diritti. Il contributo offre una ricognizione delle politiche abitative dello scorso secolo in Italia tra continuità e momenti di... more
Architetto, è stato Segretario generale del CER del Ministero dei LL.PP., Capo del dipartimento per il coordinamento territoriale del MIT e direttore generale dell'ANCE. È autore di pubblicazioni nel campo dell'edilizia residenziale... more
Since the late 1990s, new ideas and strategies concerning the role and shape of the Welfare State have been formulated. All these analyses and policy developments point towards a similar policy logic based on 'social investment'. The aim... more
Koncepcja modelu polityki rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego1 . Pojęcie rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego składa się z dwóch komponentów. Posługując się tym pojęciem sygnalizujemy, że rozwój społeczny warunkuje rozwój gospodarczy i odwrotnie.... more
Focusing on the recent emergence of behavioral and experimental economics and its implications for the design and implementation of social policies, we demonstrate that geographies of marketization are not confined to the narrow study of... more
In this article, I take the framework of neuroliberalism as an analytical lens to explore the functioning and implementation of a social impact bond-funded welfare service for young homeless people in the UK. After reflecting on the lines... more
Focusing on the recent emergence of behavioral and experimental economics and its implications for the design and implementation of social policies, we demonstrate that geographies of marketization are not confined to the narrow study of... more
In this article, I take the framework of neuroliberalism as an analytical lens to explore the functioning and implementation of a social impact bond-funded welfare service for young homeless people in the UK. After reflecting on the lines... more
In this article, I take the framework of neuroliberalism as an analytical lens to explore the functioning and implementation of a social impact bond-funded welfare service for young homeless people in the UK. After reflecting on the lines... more
Focusing on the recent emergence of behavioral and experimental economics and its implications for the design and implementation of social policies, we demonstrate that geographies of marketization are not confined to the narrow study of... more
In questo contributo riportiamo in forma sintetica quanto emerso dalla ricerca sulle Agenzie Sociali per l’Abitare in Italia che abbiamo svolto nel 2024. La ricerca ha approfondito le caratteristiche organizzative e gestionali, le risorse... more