In 2010 the municipality of Norrköping took a decision to implement a social impact bond. This decision was the starting point for a wave of similar decision around the Swedish municipalities. Södertälje took the decision to implement their social impact bond in early 2013. Even though much of the policy was the same as in Norrköping, it didn’t generate the result expected and already in 2018 it was reconstructed and brought back into the daily business. The purpose of this study is to explain the policy decisions taken, both in connection with the introduction of the policy in 2013 and the transformation done in 2018. The analytic framework used to explain these policy changes is based on the Multiple Streams Theory. The study is based on a qualitative research method with information taken from documents and interviews. These are aimed to help us gathering the empirical material needed, which consist of official control documents from the current municipality and interviews with pertinent people who worked within the policy or who have good knowledge of the phenomenon of social impact bonds. Our main conclusions are that the policy decision to implement the social impact bond, did couple the three streams; problem, political and policy, so this decision was done within an open policy window. However, the decision to reconstruct the social impact bond didn’t couple the streams in the same way and because of that a policy window didn't open.

The construct social impact has been shaping debates and supporting decision making in many segments of society. From research agendas in academia to the missions of corporations, social impact is easily presented as one of the centers of concern. Despite all this relevance, little is known about social impact\'s conceptual and paradigmatic approaches that frame the social impact academic research agenda and, similarly, the meaning-making processes that lead academics and practitioners\' understanding of social impact. This thesis fills this gap in three parts: first, by characterizing the academic research agenda on social impact over the years and building a snapshot of its paradigmatic orientation; second, by studying the academic discourse to understand the academic meaning-making processes of the social impact concept; third, by analyzing the discourse of practitioners from the Brazilian social finance ecosystem to unveil regularities and differences on their processes of signification of social impact and how these meanings affect their practices. To characterize the academic research agenda on social impact, I use bibliometric techniques and structured literature review. The contributions of this characterization are both the methodology applied and discussions on how social impact studies can advance. I show that research on social impact is rapidly expanding and integrate insights from environmental, social and economic related areas. Besides its interdisciplinary trait, the social impact research is mostly of positivist nature, especially interested in assessment. These results inform how social impact research can advance and proposes more subjective inquiries to complement the positivist studies, as more comprehensive approaches increase the potential for integrating scientific knowledge into decision making. To address the need for interpretative studies about social impact, I analyze the discourse of academic literature on social impact. To this end, I apply the social constructivist lenses and the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD). The analysis shows that, at least, three different classifications of social impact emerge from the academic discursive construction: 1) social impact as a dynamic force; 2) social impact as a side-effect of development; and 3) social impact as a performance metric. Besides some expected differences across different research fields, I also observe regularities: social impact is perceived as measurable, multifaceted and interaction-dependent. Finally, these uncovered regularities, particularly in works related to social entrepreneurship that construct social impact as a metric of performance, puts social impact as the key concept that connects the actors in these scenarios. Thus, I also apply social constructivist lenses and SKAD to gain insights on the construction of social impact by Brazilian impact investors and social entrepreneurs. In summary, I find that differences in the meaning-making process of social impact influence the way in which social problems are understood, as well as the designing of solutions and, consequently, the metrics to assess such solutions. Also, I observe how different meaning-makings of social impact shape investor-investee relationships. This thesis concludes with guidelines on how future academic research, social impact investors and social entrepreneurs can benefit from the important aspects uncovered through the analysis of their discourses / O construto impacto social tem moldado os debates e apoiando a tomada de decisões em muitos segmentos da sociedade. Desde agendas de pesquisa acadêmica até às missões das corporações, impacto social é colocado como um dos centros de interesse. Apesar da relevância, pouco se conhece sobre as abordagens conceituais e paradigmáticas da agenda de pesquisas acadêmicas sobre o tema impacto social, ou como sobre como acadêmicos e profissionais constroem diferentes entendimentos de impacto social. Esta tese preenche essa lacuna em três estágios: primeiro, caracterizando a agenda de pesquisa acadêmica sobre o impacto social ao longo dos anos e construindo um retrato de sua orientação paradigmática; segundo, estudando o discurso acadêmico para compreender como a comunidade acadêmica constrói significados de impacto social; terceiro, analisando o discurso de atores do ecossistema brasileiro de finanças sociais para desvelar seus processos de significação do termo impacto social, bem como os efeitos desses significados em suas práticas. Para caracterizar a agenda de pesquisa acadêmica sobre impacto social, eu utilizo técnicas bibliométricas e revisão estruturada da literatura. Eu mostro que a pesquisa sobre impacto social está se expandindo rapidamente e integra contribuições de diferentes áreas de pesquisa. Além de seu traço interdisciplinar, a pesquisa de impacto social é majoritariamente de natureza positivista, especialmente interessada em avaliação. Esses resultados informam como a pesquisa de impacto social pode avançar e propõe lentes de pesquisa mais interpretativas para complementar os estudos positivistas e aumentar o potencial de integração do conhecimento científico na tomada de decisão. Como um primeiro passo para preencher a lacuna de estudos interpretativos sobre impacto social, eu analiso o discurso da literatura acadêmica sobre impacto social. Para tanto, aplico as lentes do construtivismo social e da Sociologia do Conhecimento Aplicada do Discurso (SKAD). A análise mostra que, pelo menos, três classificações diferentes de impacto social emergem da construção discursiva acadêmica: 1) o impacto social como uma força dinâmica; 2) impacto social como efeito colateral do desenvolvimento; e 3) impacto social como uma métrica de desempenho. Além de algumas diferenças esperadas em diferentes campos de pesquisa, também observo regularidades: o impacto social é percebido como mensurável, multifacetado e dependente de interação entre agentes. Finalmente, essas regularidades descobertas, particularmente em trabalhos relacionados ao empreendedorismo social que constroem o impacto social como uma métrica de desempenho, colocam o impacto social como o conceito-chave que conecta os atores nesse cenário. Assim, eu também aplico as lentes do construtivismo social e SKAD para entender como se dá a construção do impacto social por investidores de impacto e empreendedores sociais brasileiros. Em resumo, percebo que as diferenças no processo de construção de significado de impacto social influenciam a maneira como os problemas sociais são compreendidos, bem como a concepção de soluções e, consequentemente, as métricas para avaliar tais soluções. Além disso, observo como os diferentes significados do impacto social modelam as relações entre investidor e investido. Esta tese conclui com orientações sobre como futuros pesquisadores, investidores de impacto social e empreendedores sociais podem se beneficiar dos aspectos descobertos através da análise de seus discursos

Na questão do bullying, um subtipo de agressão frequente nas escolas, aspectos ligado à organização social do grupo são de importância na compreensão do fenômeno. No presente estudo, avaliamos a correlação entre o bullying/vitimização e as variáveis de popularidade percebida, preferência social e impacto social, num grupo de adolescentes entre 12 e 14 anos na cidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Para avaliação do bullying e da vitimização utilizamos o questionário Peer Assessment e, para avaliar o status social e a popularidade percebida, usamos dois testes sociométricos, cada um com duas perguntas. Verificamos a interação entre as variáveis e os efeitos principais com o uso de Equações de Estimação (GEE) com efeito aleatório. Os resultados mostraram que os adolescentes menos gostados têm mais chance de ser vitimizados, e os mais populares, de serem agressores. Além disso, há correlação direta entre a agressividade e o impacto social de cada um (o quanto é lembrado pelos pares), e há uma relação inversa entre agressividade e preferência social. / Social organization of the group is an important aspect involved in bullying, a frequent type of aggression found in schools. In this study, we present the correlation between bullying / victimization and variables of perceived popularity, social preference and social impact in a group of adolescents between 12 and 14 years old in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Bullying and Victimization were assessed through the Peer Assessment questionnaire and, Social Status and Perceived Popularity were assessed through two sociometric tests, each one with two questions. We used generalized linear model (GEE) to check the interaction between the variables. According to our results, the less liked the more victimized an adolescent will be, and the more popular the higher the chance of being aggressor. In addition, there is a direct correlation between aggressiveness and the social impact of each one (how much the person is remembered by the peers), and there is an inverse relationship between aggressiveness and social preference.

O setor sucroenergético tem grande representatividade histórica no agronegócio brasileiro e vem ganhando notoriedade no atual contexto da emergência da economia de baixo carbono e da crescente demanda mundial por fontes alternativas e renováveis de energia. Como consequência do crescimento da produção e consumo de etanol e açúcar, intensificado na última década, o avanço da cultura canavieira sobre novas áreas suscita uma série de questões de cunho ambiental, econômico e social acerca dos possíveis efeitos resultantes deste processo. Posto isso, este trabalho busca contribuir com estes desenvolvimentos relacionados à avaliação do aspecto socioeconômico da expansão canavieira e do setor sucroenergético sobre novas áreas, motivada pelo crescimento da produção e demanda de açúcar e etanol combustível no período. De modo mais específico, foram produzidos dois capítulos no formato de artigos científicos, que podem ser lidos e avaliados de modo independente: o primeiro trata-se de uma análise sistemática, qualitativa e crítica da literatura científica, recuperando estudos desenvolvidos sobre a temática central entre os anos de 2006 e 2013, com o objetivo de apresentar as principais conclusões de uma série de trabalhos relevantes relacionados à temática e se verificar as lacunas, convergências ou possíveis contrastes; já o segundo trabalho apresenta uma avaliação empírica quantitativa, utilizando uma abordagem metodológica econométrica de dados em painel, analisando dados de municípios de São Paulo entre os anos de 2005 a 2011. Neste segundo estudo, se verificou que o efeito positivo da presença do setor sobre os municípios é relacionado com a presença de usinas/destilarias de cana-de-açúcar na região, enquanto que a expansão somente da cultura agrícola da cana-de-açúcar apresentou efeito negativo em pequena escala. As conclusões de ambos os estudos sugerem a necessidade de novas pesquisas na área, evidenciando-se que este é um tema fértil mas relativamente ainda pouco explorado na literatura. / The sugarcane industry has historical importance in the Brazilian agribusiness and has gained notoriety in the current context of the emergence of low-carbon economy and the growing worldwide demand for alternative and renewable energy sources. The advance of sugarcane crops on new areas and the growth in production and consumption of ethanol and sugar, intensified in the last decade, raises a number of environment, economic and social issues about the possible effects of this process. This work aims to contribute to these developments related to the evaluation of socio-economic aspect of sugarcane expansion and the sugarcane industry into new areas, caused by the growth of production and demand for sugar and ethanol fuel in the period. More specifically, two chapters were produced in the format of scientific articles that can be read and evaluated independently: the first one is a systematic analysis, qualitative and critical of the scientific literature, recovering developed studies on the central theme of the years 2006 and 2013, with the aim of presenting the main findings of a number of relevant work related to the topic and check the gaps, convergences or possible contrasts; the second paper presents a quantitative empirical evaluation using an econometric methodological approach to panel data, analyzing data of São Paulo municipalities between the years 2005 to 2011. In this second study, it was found that the positive effect of the industry\'s presence on the municipalities is related to the presence of mills / distilleries of cane sugar in the region, while the expansion only the crop of cane sugar presented negative effect on small scale. The findings of both studies suggest the need for further research in the area.

Na transição do século XX para o XXI, o Brasil é fortemente impactado pela globalização capitalista e neoliberal. Os governos eleitos na década de 1990 se aliam ao projeto neoliberal, representado pelo Consenso de Washington. Nesse processo, as orientações gerais dos governos Fernando Collor, Itamar Franco e Fernando Henrique Cardoso, obedeceram ao receituário, ou conjunto de regras e normas, indicadas pelos organismos internacionais - GATT/OMC, FMI e Banco Mundial. Reforma do Estado, controle das contas públicas, estabilidade monetária, contenção dos gastos sociais, privatização, desregulação do trabalho e da economia, flexibilização e fim das barreiras alfandegárias foram suas palavras de ordem. Pari passu, se desenvolvem as ideias de globalização e mundialização, de modernidade e pós-modernidade. No Brasil desse período, o tema alça relevância e um conjunto de intelectuais do país se propõe a refletir sobre os impactos de tal processo. O tema da globalização será objeto de alguns dossiês publicados por revistas acadêmicas: Revista do Instituto Avançados-IEA/USP, Cadernos CEBRAP e Universidade e Sociedade-ANDES. Vários autores também publicaram no período livros nos quais a temática central era a globalização, seus impactos e desdobramentos. Temas como o papel do Estado, técnicas e tecnologias, identidade, diversidade, cultura nacional e de massa, globalização e dependência orientam esses livros. Ao mesmo tempo que se pensa sobre a globalização, ela vai nos subsumindo com suas novas técnicas e tecnologias. O estudo em tela tem justamente o objetivo de compreender como esse debate se estabeleceu no país nos anos 1990, fazendo um esforço para trazê-lo para o presente. A pesquisa teve como fonte os artigos, revistas e livros publicados sobre o tema. / In the passage from the 20th century to the 21st, Brazil was heavily impacted by a globalization both capitalist and neoliberal. The elected governments along the decade of 1990 aligned themselves with the neoliberal project, represented by the Washington Consensus. Amidst this process, the overall guidelines of the mandates of Fernando Collor, Itamar Franco, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso obeyed the neoliberal prescriptions, that is, its set of rules and fundamental norms appointed by international organizations such as the GATT/WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. Measures pointed toward the reform of the state, monetary stability, retrenchment of social expenditures, privatization of public services, deregulation of the workplace and of the economy, and the removal of customs barriers were its motto. Simultaneously, the ideas of globalization and mundialization, of modernity and post-modernity developed. In Brazil at that time, those themes gain relevance, and a group of intellectuals sets out to reflect on and analyze its impacts. The subject of globalization, along with its developments and consequences, becomes central to a few academic dossiers and books published during that period, guided by analysis regarding the role of the State, techniques and technologies, identity, diversity, national culture and mass culture, and globalization and dependency. At the same time that globalization is reflected upon, it subsumes the thinker with its new techniques and technologies. This study aims to understand how this debate was established in the country during the decade of 1990 and attempts to bring it to the present. The research had, as sources, articles, academic magazines, and books published on the subject.

Na questão do bullying, um subtipo de agressão frequente nas escolas, aspectos ligado à organização social do grupo são de importância na compreensão do fenômeno. No presente estudo, avaliamos a correlação entre o bullying/vitimização e as variáveis de popularidade percebida, preferência social e impacto social, num grupo de adolescentes entre 12 e 14 anos na cidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Para avaliação do bullying e da vitimização utilizamos o questionário Peer Assessment e, para avaliar o status social e a popularidade percebida, usamos dois testes sociométricos, cada um com duas perguntas. Verificamos a interação entre as variáveis e os efeitos principais com o uso de Equações de Estimação (GEE) com efeito aleatório. Os resultados mostraram que os adolescentes menos gostados têm mais chance de ser vitimizados, e os mais populares, de serem agressores. Além disso, há correlação direta entre a agressividade e o impacto social de cada um (o quanto é lembrado pelos pares), e há uma relação inversa entre agressividade e preferência social. / Social organization of the group is an important aspect involved in bullying, a frequent type of aggression found in schools. In this study, we present the correlation between bullying / victimization and variables of perceived popularity, social preference and social impact in a group of adolescents between 12 and 14 years old in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Bullying and Victimization were assessed through the Peer Assessment questionnaire and, Social Status and Perceived Popularity were assessed through two sociometric tests, each one with two questions. We used generalized linear model (GEE) to check the interaction between the variables. According to our results, the less liked the more victimized an adolescent will be, and the more popular the higher the chance of being aggressor. In addition, there is a direct correlation between aggressiveness and the social impact of each one (how much the person is remembered by the peers), and there is an inverse relationship between aggressiveness and social preference.

O investimento de impacto é um conceito intermediário entre investimento tradicional e filantropia, e ainda representa uma fração pequena dos valores movimentados nas outras duas áreas. No entanto, é uma área que vem crescendo muito rapidamente e ganhando adeptos não só entre as organizações sociais, mas também nos mercados privado e governamental, e estima-se que essa modalidade de investimento possa movimentar cerca de um trilhão de dólares em 2020. Se o grande diferencial entre o investimento de impacto e o tradicional é justamente o impacto positivo gerado, para que o desenvolvimento do campo seja efetivo, urge um melhor entendimento do que é este impacto e como avaliá-lo. Assim, com a visão de contribuir com a discussão acerca da avaliação do impacto social na seara dos investimentos de impacto, o presente trabalho buscou responder à questão de pesquisa \"Como realizar a avaliação prévia (due diligence) do impacto social de um novo projeto?\". Para tanto, foi proposto um modelo de análise do impacto baseado na experiência do Acumen Fund, que foi aplicado no projeto de tecnologia assistiva mDREET, desenvolvido pelo negócio social Solar Ear. O foco do trabalho foi a fase inicial da avaliação dos investimentos, a due diligence, e o resultado obtido foi a demonstração, na prática, de um modelo simples de avaliação, que se mostrou válido para disseminar a compreensão do processo que leva ao impacto social esperado. Por demandar poucos recursos financeiros e de tempo, uma vez entendido, este modelo pode ser adaptado e replicado em diferentes contextos. / Impact investing is a recent concept, intermediary between traditional investment and philanthropy, and, in terms of assets under management, represents a small fraction from both other areas. Nevertheless, it has been growing at a high pace, and not only amongst the third sector. The private and public sector have been making some moves towards this direction and the estimated potential of this market is around one trillion dollars by 2020. If the big difference between impact investing and traditional investing is the intentional social and environmental positive impact, to enable a consistent growth, there is an urgent need to better define what this impact means and how to measure it. In order to contribute to this discussion, the current work aims to answer the research question \"How to make the due diligence of a new project\'s social impact?\". To accomplish this goal, the author proposes an impact evaluation model based on Acumen Fund practices. This framework was applied in mDREET, an assistive technology project developed by a social business named Solar Ear. The focus has been placed on the tools used in the due diligence phase and as a result, it is presented a simple and low cost process for social impact due diligence, which can be further refined as the company progress in the investment analysis pipeline. Once this process is understood, it can be adapted and used in different occasion/context.

Innovative technologies and their ability to grow rapidly are known to be a great source of controversy and paranoid reactions amongst people. The aim of this research is to examine the acceptance and perception of the technology of digital supermodels and influencers. This will be done in the global market of end-users where this technology has proliferated or has the potential to emerge. Digital supermodels and influencers were regarded specifically in a marketing context for this research, since the whole essence of their existence is for marketing purposes, and was approached as a new innovative technology. The research was divided into two parts, first was about conducting a questionnaire to analyse people’s acceptance of the technology, more specifically to examine the possible change in their purchasing behaviour. The purpose of the second part of given research was to examine people’s reactions and perception towards this technology through a content analysis of Instagram comments for the Instagram accounts of digital supermodels and influencers. The addressed innovative technology of digital influencers and supermodels is mostly perceived positively or neutrally. The significant amount of neutral positions in both parts of given research states the presence of confusion and the need for answers rather than lack of interest, which is to be addressed by the creators and users of digital avatars in marketing in the fashion industry.

Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) and urgency are common conditions and can have a profound influence on many aspects of life. Approximately one in four women has UI and one in ten has daily symptoms. Knowledge is lacking, however, on the impact of UI and urgency on the lives of affected women and their partners and on the situation of women with urinary leakage one year postoperatively. Aims: To study the consequences of female UI and urgency for patients and their partners on quality of life (QoL), the partner relationship, and their sexual lives. Also to evaluate the success rates of three operation methods: tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O), and transobturator tape (TOT) for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), with a particular focus on women who still have urinary leakage one year after surgery. Methods: Women seeking healthcare for UI and/or urgency and their partners were invited to answer questionnaires. The women completed disease-specific questionnaires and both the women (n = 206) and their partners (n = 109) answered questions about their psychosocial situation, partner relationship, and sexual life. Patient-reported outcomes one year after surgery with TVT, TVT-O, or TOT (n = 3334) were derived from the Swedish National Quality Register for Gynaecological Surgery. Results: Most of the women reported that their urinary problems negatively affected their physical activities, and almost half reported negative consequences for their social life. Women aged 25–49 years were less satisfied with their psychological health, sexual life, and leisure than women aged 50–74 years. One third of both the women and their partners (all the partners were men) experienced a negative impact on their relationship, and sexual life was negatively affected in almost half of the women and one in five of their men. Coital incontinence was reported in one third of the women. Most of their men did not consider this a problem, but the majority of the affected women did. Satisfaction with outcome of the operation did not differ between TVT, TVT-O, and TOT, but TVT showed a higher success rate for SUI than TOT did. Higher age, higher body mass index, a diagnosis of mixed urinary incontinence, and a history of urinary leakage in combination with urgency each constitute a risk for a lower operation success rate. After one year, 29% of the women still had some form of UI, but half of these were satisfied with the outcome and most reported fewer negative impacts on family, social, working, and sexual life than before the operation. Conclusions: Female UI and/or urgency impaired QoL, particularly in young women, and had negative effects on partner relationships and on some partners’ lives. Sexual life was also affected, more often in women with UI and/or urgency than in their partners. At one-year follow-up after surgery, about one third of the women still had some form of UI, but the negative impact on their lives was reduced. A challenge for health care professionals is to initiate a dialogue with women with urinary symptoms about sexual function and what surgery can realistically be expected to accomplish.

Le modalità secondo cui iniziative imprenditoriali ad elevato impatto sociale possono amplificare il valore sociale creato mediante la propria attività costituisce uno dei temi più rilevanti per quelle imprese che intendono affrontare piaghe sociali ampiamente diffuse quali la povertà, l'accesso all'educazione e la salute. L'elaborato intende contribuire alla letteratura sull'imprenditorialità sociale discutendo le strategie, i modelli organizzativi e le competenze richieste per massimizzare l'ampiezza dell'impatto e aumentare le probabilità di successo. Tali temi sono discussi in tre articoli. Il primo, intitolato “Scaling social entrepreneurial impact: an open innovation perspective” presenta un modello teorico che mette in relazione tre differenti strategie di amplificazione dell'impatto sociale con le probabilità da parte dell'organizzazione di soddisfare le proprie attese in termini di valore creato atteso e di valore potenziale rivelato. Il modello suggerisce una relazione significativa tra l'adozione di confini organizzativi "aperti" e l'attitudine a rivelare nuovo valore potenziale. Inoltre, il grado di affinità tra i contesti in cui l'innovazione sociale è replicata modera tale relazione. Il secondo articolo, intitolato “Ba creation and Ba expansion in academic-practitioner partnerships in the social entrepreneurship field", fa riferimento all' "organizational knowledge creation theory" e propone, tramite un caso di studio longitudinale, un modello che illustra gli antecedenti della creazione e la successiva espansione del "Ba" nel contesto di una partnership tra un ateneo universitario e un'impresa sociale suggerendo in che modo gli attori coinvolti nel processo di creazione della conoscenza possano modificare i propri ruoli per produrre un impatto sociale superiore. Il terzo articolo, intitolato “Scaling Social Impact: A Replication and Extension of SCALERS” contribuisce alla letteratura replicando il primo test del modello SCALERS in un nuovo contesto internazionale (Italia) e sviluppandolo ulteriormente includendo alcune contingenze specifiche quali variabili moderatrici del modello. / Scaling social impact is among the most relevant challenges that social enterprises face in addressing global issues like poverty, access to education and health. The dissertation aims at contributing to social entrepreneurship literature by dealing with quests about how and why specific strategies and organizational models may improve the likelihood and the magnitude of the impact exerted by social organizations and which capabilities are most needed for impact to be scaled. Those issues are discussed along three essays. The first article entitled “Scaling social entrepreneurial impact: an open innovation perspective” presents a theoretical model connecting three strategies for spreading social innovation to organization’s confidence on achieving expected social impact and revealing new potential value. The model predicts that a strong relationship exists between the adoption of an open organizational structure and the attitude to reveal potential social value. Indeed, context similarity moderates this relation. The second article entitled “Ba creation and Ba expansion in academic-practitioner partnerships in the social entrepreneurship field” - by building on organizational knowledge creation theory - advances a model predicting the antecedents of ba creation and ba expansion within the framework of university – field organization partnerships, this way contributing to the social entrepreneurship field and suggesting how participants in ba creation and expansion may extend their roles in the knowledge creation process to achieve greater impact. The third article entitled “Scaling Social Impact: A Replication and Extension of SCALERS” contributes to the emerging scholarship on scaling of social impact by replicating initial results of the SCALERS model in an international context (i.e., Italy) and including some situational contingencies as moderating variables of the model.