Distributing Mutual Advantages in Italian Cooperatives

Italian cooperative organizations contribute sensibly to the national growth and development, pursuing a social function of economic redistribution. Since they are based on the mutuality principle, the related accountancy and taxation systems follow such logic, in particular as far as the patronage refunds discipline is concerned. The aim of the chapter is to advance the understanding of such flows; the scope is pursued through an accounting records' comparative analysis based on the main legislative acts and professional and scholar literature. The results converge into a cause-and-effect model built according to a system dynamics perspective.

Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Websites of Portuguese Foundations

This chapter aims to assess how the Portuguese foundations manage and disclosure on their websites information on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study performs the assessment of the sampled foundations holding a website accessible to the broad public and being members of the Portuguese Foundation Centre. The evidence of this study impacts therefore the literature review on three ways. Firstly, it sheds light on the diversity of CSR policies undertaken by foundations, through the scale perspective and the CSR content categories. Secondly, it claims how distinct CSR information trends can be triggered by needs of legitimacy towards the stakeholders unlike other types of organizations. Lastly, the evidence provided by this study suggests that there in not a significant influence of the dimension factor of the foundations on the amount of CSR information they disclose, which contradicts evidence of previous studies.

Public Services and the Missed Values of (Non)Communication

Citizens' interactions are at the center of open governments. When the latter use open structures and open processes to foster (technical) collaboration, citizens' wellbeing can be improved by observing what citizens (do not) publicly write about or search for. This chapter tries to compare the wellbeing and quality of life (the older terms are public value or solidarity) with public goods inside and outside of public services. This relationship can be achieved when people debate and governments listen to diverse alternatives. To test this relationship, the Google Trends application was used. Trends show that satisfied people do not write about effective, efficient, legal, and ethical things, so a temporary conclusion needed for further investigation is that the government's success in a certain field is present when people do not talk (on a large scale) about matters or topics in that field. Governments should, therefore, listen to or read what people (do not) say or write.

The Potential Role of Social Reporting in the Decision-Making Process of Cooperatives

Accountability in the social economy sector is very important because it is inherent in the nature of the organizations of this sector. The literature on the topic of social accounting and accountability is abundant and highlights the benefits and the criticisms of social reporting. The objective of the chapter arises from the literature review that highlights how more in-depth studies are needed on the characters and role of social accountability in decision-making processes. In order to answer the research question (How is social reporting performed and how does social information influence the decision making of the management in a cooperative?), the single case study methodology has been adopted, considering embedded units of analysis and focusing on the social report of an Italian retail cooperative (COOP Lombardia). Thanks to the analyzed case study, it is possible to conclude that the social report can represent a tool of accountability that also informs future decisions, realizing a circular relationship between results achieved and decisions to be taken.

Accountability via Financial Disclosures

Social economy sector (SES) organizations are dependent on their funders and, similar to non-profit organizations, are vulnerable to the risk of mission drift as well as to concerns about the extent to which they are accountable for their fund flows. This chapter explores the general public's perceptions of the relative importance of specific financial disclosures which the public believes SES organizations should publish as part of their provision of accountability. Using a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 400 Australian individuals, the chapter observes that the public perceives financial disclosures relating to sources of funds, mission-related expenses, and the financial sustainability of SES organizations as important. It is recommended that SES organizations cater to the general public's information needs as a way of improving their accountability, reducing information asymmetry, and eventually increasing general trust and confidence in their operations.

Circular Economy for India

The stewardship of resources for the good of the people is an ancient concept in India, practiced by revered kingdoms. This chapter discusses the original ideals of stewardship and how colonization caused a deterioration of this philosophy in favor of materialistic wealth generation. Colonization followed by the development of an industrialized and capitalistic leaning in the economy brought wealth and increased consumption for Indian people and also created multiple waste-related issues. These issues require a drastic overhaul of waste management practices, with particular attention to industrial ecology. Modern stewardship by India's CSR community is essential to prevent further environmental degradation due to poor waste management practices. The circular economy holds promise as a new economic system and philosophy that can refocus society towards the values of stewardship espoused by the nation's ancestors, while transitioning to a circular economy.

Realities and Challenges of the Social Enterprises in South-Eastern European Countries

The chapter objectives focus on mapping the sector of social economy in some states from South-Eastern Europe, presenting their role and impact due to the activities achieved in society. The theoretical part of the chapter comprises the evolution of social economy in Europe, in general, and in South-Eastern Europe, in particular, the identification of the types of organizations in this area. The case study identifies and presents the stages of development of the social enterprises in countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, and explores, by comparative analysis the institutional frameworks, the regulations of social enterprises, the eligible judicial forms, presenting similarities and differences, as well as the contribution to social inclusion and impact on community in general. The chapter identifies and explains the influence of the European actors and presents the factors specific to each country which have influenced and supported the emergence of social enterprises as well as the challenges faced.

The Influencers of Social Accounting and Reporting

This chapter is an attempt at presenting some reliable factors that have a significant impact on the creation, development, and practice of social accounting and reporting. A part of the research is devoted to presenting the problem of the emergence of the views of social accounting and reporting and their development over time. Attention has been provided to the most influential generators of social accounting and reporting that shape the state of the art to the fullest extent. The text seeks to highlight the driving forces that impact the development of social accounting and reporting. The essay cannot be exhaustive enough as the vast variety of social reports that exist cannot be covered in detail. The study, without seeking full comprehensiveness, tries to systematize some key drivers of social accounting and accountability. It seeks to provide a practical and simple coordinate system in which those who wish to conduct social accounting and reporting should be guided by the diverse sources of social accountability models.

Evaluation of the Online Accountability of the Portuguese Private Institutions of Social Solidarity

In Portugal, in order to make the management of public resources more accountable, regulations on financial disclosure have emerged. Currently, the Private Institutions of Social Solidarity, through the Decree-Law No. 172-A/2014, are required to publish the financial reporting on their websites from 2016. Given the diffusion of innovations and the institutional theory, based on coercive isomorphism, the IPSS may have already created the conditions to fulfill this requirement. This chapter intends to ascertain whether the IPSS have conditions to comply with the mandatory disclosure under the law. This research shows that there is very limited presence of IPSS on the internet, the websites reveal low maturity levels and are little sophisticated. Furthermore, the IPSS that disclose the financial reporting on their websites, are still a minority, even if required by law to do so. The value of this research are related to the recent innovations introduced by the legal framework. Thus, it is important to monitor the evolution of law compliance by these institutions.

Reporting Value Using Social Return on Investment Reports

This chapter provides an assessment of social return on investment (SROI) as an instrument of reporting the value that (non-profit) organizations in the social economy have created. After a general overview and comparison of two most widely referred SROI guidelines, a selection of SROI reports in practice is analyzed based on criteria of popular reporting. Popular reporting has emerged in the accounting discipline as a way of establishing an easy to understand, short enough to maintain attention document to different user groups (e.g., clients, citizens, decision makers). This new approach lending from the basic ideas of popular reporting allows researchers and practitioners alike to gain new insights into the current design as well as the potential of SROI reports as a key instrument of accountability for (non-profit) organizations in the social economy.