Financial Mechanisms for Innovative Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems
This report presents the findings of the project “Financial Mechanisms for Innovative Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems,” designed to foster a better understanding of the different ways in which financial resources can be made available and accessible to support the growth of social and solidarity economy (SSE) organizations and their ecosystems. Based on a review of the literature on SSE ecosystems and their importance in addressing challenges related to the future of work and local economic development, and after a careful analysis of the different types of financial providers and mechanisms potentially available to SSE organizations, the study examines data from eight countries around the world to draw a series of conclusions and policy recommendations.
Among the key themes that have emerged from the work is the observation that SSE organizations routinely access many different sources of funding, but they also have specificities in terms of objectives, areas of activity, governance and ownership structures that require careful adaptation of financial sources and mechanisms in order to avoid mission bias and drift. Without assuming that SSE organizations have greater challenges than traditional enterprises of similar size, and without assuming that the most innovative financial instruments are also the most effective and best suited to the needs of SSE organizations, the project results challenge some of the most widely held (though often unsubstantiated) principles about access to finance for SSE organizations and highlight the importance of a blended approach that can successfully mix internal and external, public and private, market and nonmarket financial sources. The goal is to support the growth of SSE ecosystems that can continue to address social problems and provide viable alternatives to their root causes.
This paper was prepared by Samuel Barco Serrano, Riccardo Bodini, Michael Roy, Gianluca Salvatori. The abridged version is in Italian and can be downloaded from the button below.
The English version is avalaible here.
