STREAM 4: FINANCING SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL IMPACT

Description: 

Hybrid entrepreneurial organizations face higher difficulties in accessing financial resources due to their mission of generating social impact. Indeed, their hybrid nature does not fit neatly into either the traditional non-profit model typically supported by the public sector and grant-makers or the for-profit model familiar to commercial financiers. On the other hand, financial practices intentionally deploying capital to generate a measurable and additional social impact has gained popularity and momentum over the last years. While this unwavering growth is undoubtedly a positive indicator of optimism for the financial world's long-term sustainability, sustainable and social impact finance still have to find a common agreement on their conceptualization and clear boundaries to avoid confusion between different approaches. Therefore, this industry of “the capital for sustainability and social impact” suffers an issue of misalignment due to blurred conceptualization of the very nature of the phenomenon. This stream sets out to explore the core distinctive elements of the practice of providing capital to support sustainable and impact activities using an ecosystem approach that considers the needs, features and evolution of both demand and supply side. Thus, we invite empirical and theoretical contributions dealing with, but not limited to: 

• Inter-organizational relationship between (social) financiers and social enterprises   

• Investment readiness of potential capital recipients 

• Challenges of social ventures in approaching and dealing with different capital providers  

• Investors eligibility and assessment criteria for social enterprises  

• Negotiation of terms and objectives between social financiers and social enterprises  

• Effects of non-financial services provided by investors on investees 

• Sustainable Finance and Social Impact Investing 

• Structure and performance of SRI and ethical funds  

• Reflections of the utility function of impact investors  

• Measurements and evaluation of social impact generated by impact investors  

• Assessment of social risk and return and integration in the portfolio building methods  

• Outcome based/Pay for success financial mechanisms and their effectiveness  

• Example of new approaches and mechanisms of different funds providers (e.g. public agencies, private capital, public-private partnerships arrangements, philanthropy) in performing social impact investing 

• Empirical studies collecting data on existing practices  

• The role of social impact in crowdfunding platforms 

• Theoretical framework for Sustainable Finance and Social Impact Investing 

• Stakeholder theory 

• Institutional theory 

• Legitimacy theory