scholarly journals Preserving the Integrity of Social Impact Investing: Towards a Distinctive Implementation Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2852
Author(s):  
Irene Bengo ◽  
Alice Borrello ◽  
Veronica Chiodo
Keyword(s):  
Asset Allocation ◽  
Implementation Strategy ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Cultural Shift ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Specific Practice ◽  
Definition Of

Social impact investing (SII) is a strategy of asset allocation that aims to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Compared to other approaches of sustainable finance it holds an enormous potential of generating solutions to societal challenges. However, scholars have claimed that social impact often just employs logic upheld by the mainstream investment approach. Therefore, the paper investigates the assumption that SII has not developed a distinctive implementation strategy able to translate the prioritization of social impact into practice and how to overcome this issue. The thematic analysis of data collected through 105 interviews with Italian SII financiers and the top managers of social ventures allowed us to identify three features of an SII tailored practice: promoting a cultural shift of intermediaries, adopting a coopetition approach, and integrating the social impact in the terms of the financial transaction. Lastly, the paper drafts a research agenda to enhance the proper theorization of SII focusing on the definition of social risk, social return, and governance mechanisms. The key contribution of this article is confirming the lack of an SII-specific practice able to endogenize the intent of prioritizing social impact and providing suggestions to prevent the risk of impact washing.

Impact investing in South Africa: managing tensions between financial returns and social impact

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunivicia Matlhogonolo Mogapi ◽  
Margaret Mary Sutherland ◽  
Anthony Wilson-Prangley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Financial Returns ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Impact investment is an emergent field worldwide and it can play an especially important role in Africa. The aim of this study was to examine how impact investors in South Africa manage the tensions between financial returns and social impact. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the impact investment community in South Africa to understand the related challenges, trade-offs and tensions. Findings There are two opposing views expressed as to whether the tensions between financial return and social impact result in trade-offs. It is proposed that impact investors embrace this duality and seek to approach it through a contingency and a paradox view. The tensions can be approached by focussing on values alignment, contracting processes, engaged leadership and sector identification. The authors integrate the findings into a proposed framework for effective tension management in an impact investment portfolio. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to selected South African interviewees. It would be valuable to extend the study to other African countries. Practical implications The issue of values alignment between investors, fund managers and investee firms is an important finding for practice. As is the four-part iterative framework for sensing the operating environment, defining impact, organising internally and defining the investment approach. Originality/value This study contributes empirical evidence to scholarship around organisational tensions, especially work in hybrid organisations. It affirms the value of a nuanced application of paradox theory. It examines these tensions through the lived experience of impact investing professionals in an emerging market context.

Impact investing will boost global Islamic finance

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Thomson Reuters ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Investment Choices

Subject Impact investing and Islamic finance. Significance The share of Islamic financial assets remains limited, currently accounting for just 1.27% of global financial assets, according to the latest Zawya Thomson Reuters report on the 'State of the Islamic Economy'. However, new opportunities are ahead. Impact investing, defined by its ambition of achieving the dual goals of measurable positive social and environmental impact, and financial return, is a rapidly growing segment of international financial markets. It offers unique opportunities for Islamic investors looking for investment choices that meet the goals of an Islamic value-based investment approach. Impacts Impact investing will create impetus for further product development in the Islamic finance sector. New deals are in the pipeline after record innovation in 2015 in social-impact bonds that are compliant with Islamic financial principles. They will increase the attractiveness of the Islamic finance sector to a whole range of investors.

scholarly journals Conversations about measurement and evaluation in impact investing

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amreen Choda ◽  
Mishkah Teladia
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Rockefeller Foundation ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Impact Measurement ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
African Experience ◽  
Measurement And Evaluation ◽  
The Impact

In response to the enduring social, economic and environmental challenges facing the African continent and its population, development interventions are evolving to embrace new approaches, new partnerships and new means of achieving impact. One such area of heightened innovation and growing activity is impact investing. Impact investing is defined as investments made with the intention of generating both financial return and social or environmental impact. As this momentum in impact investing grows, a complementary area of activity has started to put down roots in Africa – social impact measurement.Genesis Analytics curated and managed the Innovations in Evaluation strand at the recent African Evaluation Association Conference, convened in Uganda in March 2017. This strand was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and aimed to ignite conversations between impact investment stakeholders and evaluators focused on the African experience with social impact measurement.This article presents themes emerging from the presentations and conversations within the Innovations in Evaluation strand. The article begins with a brief explanation of the rise of impact investing, globally and within Africa, and then goes on to explain the structure of the Innovations in Evaluation strand. This strand included small group discussions and a think tank, which enabled sharing of ideas and experiences between strand participants. The article, therefore, documents the issues emerging during these discussions, including exploration of the concept of impact measurement and how this understanding differs across stakeholders, the currency of impact measurement and emerging practice.The article concludes with presenting what stakeholders and evaluators need to jointly explore to ensure that the African experience is well represented as the impact measurement movement continues to gain momentum globally.

scholarly journals Understanding Social Impact and Value Creation in Hybrid Organizations: The Case of Italian Civil Service

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4058
Author(s):  
Paolo Esposito ◽  
Valerio Brescia ◽  
Chiara Fantauzzi ◽  
Rocco Frondizi
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Hybrid Organizations ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, it aims to analyze what kind of value is generated by hybrid organizations and how; second, it aims to understand the role of social impact assessment (SIA) in the measurement of added value, especially in terms of social and economic change generated by hybrids. Hybrid organizations are a debated topic in literature and have different strengths in responding to needs, mainly in the public interest. Nevertheless, there are not many studies that identify the impact and change generated by these organizations. After highlighting the gap in the literature, the study proposes an innovative approach that combines SIA, interview, interventionist approach and documental analysis. The breakdown of SIA through the five elements of the value chain (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact) guarantees a linear definition of the value generated through change with procedural objectivity capable of grasping hybrid organizations’ complexity. The value generated or absorbed is the change generated by the impact measured based on the incidence of public resources allocated. Through the SIA and counterfactual approach, the civil service case study analysis highlights how the value generated by public resources can be measured or more clearly displayed in the measurement process itself.

scholarly journals CHANGES IN THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT FAMILY 2003–2014: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSIDERING ACHIEVEMENTS, GAPS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 1550003 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK VANCLAY
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Proportional Change ◽  
The Impact

Over 150 forms of impact assessment can be identified using Google searches, with several new forms appearing since 2003. Since then, the popularity of the various members of the impact assessment family has changed, partly in response to legislative and regulatory changes, and general trends in society. The information explosion and expansion of the internet has resulted in a 32 fold increase in the number of hits for "impact assessment", now over 12 million. The conventional methods most frequently mentioned in 2003 had relatively low proportional change over the last 10 years but remain amongst the most frequently mentioned in 2014: risk assessment, public participation, cost-benefit analysis, public involvement, environmental monitoring, and project evaluation. The terms with highest proportional change (i.e. the super-hot topics) were primarily social concerns, including: equality impact assessment, welfare impact assessment, mental health impact assessment, disability impact assessment, human impact assessment, social impact assessment, and social risk assessment. Other terms that had high proportional change included life cycle impact assessment. Information about the relative popularity of the various forms of impact assessment is used in this paper to discuss issues and trends in the broad field of impact assessment.

scholarly journals Scaffolding: Using Social Impact Assessment to Map Framework for Construction Stakeholders’ Engagement

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 154-165
Author(s):  
Samuel Ekung ◽  
James Effiong
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Industry Needs

Strategy to construction stakeholders’ engagement in Nigeria is anchored on environmental impact assessment (EIA) law. While EIA is conducted only in large projects, every project continues to witness one form of opposition or another from the community stakeholders. This study examined social impact assessment’s (SIA) procedures as a scaffold to mapping framework for construction stakeholders’ engagement. The objectives were to examine problems associated with the implementation of EIA which hitherto ought to address the social risk triggers in project delivery and to develop a framework embedded in SIA for construction stakeholders’ engagement in Nigeria. The study engaged a sample of 46 respondents comprising project managers, environmental management experts and community stakeholders in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria in a qualitative structured interviewing. Collected data were sorted and analysed. The study reveals extant approach to stakeholders’ management failed as a result of low social context and impact mitigation are based on monetary incentives whereas there are relevant urgent needs to be satisfied. A framework integrating SIA procedures and construction stakeholder engagement strategy was also developed based on the peculiarity of the industry needs. The implication is that construction stakeholders’ management must be structured on satisfying real needs of the citizenry.

Greener Transportation Infrastructure

2011 ◽  
pp. 394-421
Author(s):  
Jean-Christophe Fann ◽  
Jasenka Rakas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Implementation Strategy ◽  
Utility Functions ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Capacity Enhancement ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Evaluation Parameters

The presented methodology has two fundamental goals: first, to foster greener design practices among airport managers, planners, and designers, and second, to establish a dynamic dialogue between all airport stakeholders, while overcoming the shortcomings of traditional environmental impact assessments and thus ensuring capacity enhancement. The innovative aspects of the methodology are the combination of a flexible implementation strategy, the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) with cost and utility functions, and a structured definition of environmental sustainability with customized evaluation parameters.

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