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Self-funded social impact investment: an interdisciplinary analysis of the Sardex mutual credit system

Dini, Paolo, Motta, Wallis and Sartori, Laura (2016) Self-funded social impact investment: an interdisciplinary analysis of the Sardex mutual credit system. In: ISIRC: 8th International Social Innovation Research Conference, 2016-09-05 - 2016-09-07, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

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Abstract

Sardex is an electronic B2B mutual credit system that has been operating on the island of Sardinia since 2009 as a complementary currency. In contrast to other funding mechanisms, it allows private funding driving social and environmental impact to be endogenously generated within a given geographically limited socio-economic context, rather than injected from exogenous sources. By drawing on different strands of monetary theory, sociology and anthropology, we argue that mutual credit is central to a form of social finance and social impact investment that we identify with sustainable development, i.e. stable and constructive integration of market activity with democratic institutions and socio-cultural values and structures. The empirical basis of the paper consists of approximately thirty semi-structured in-depth interviews of Sardex circuit members and founders over 4 years. We conclude that Sardex as a collective social enterprise is best understood through an interdisciplinary perspective that demonstrates its sustainability through the different levels of its workings and its strengths as a hybrid multilayered system.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Official URL: http://www.isircconference2016.com/
Additional Information: © 2016 The Authors
Divisions: Media and Communications
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Date Deposited: 08 Sep 2016 08:59
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 08:34
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/67622

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