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

Social responsibility has gained popularity during the past few years, and one aspect of it is what benefits and costs it brings to a socially responsible investor. The purpose of this study is to examine whether different SRI strategies used by mutual funds are related to financial performance. By using multiple regression analysis and a sample of 88 Swedish SRI mutual funds over the period from 2014 to 2018, we find that using SRI screens first reduces the financial performance, but then gains a slight rebound as the screening intensity increases, indicating a U-shaped relationship. Further, we find that environmental screens impact the financial performance positively, and engagement and voting in sustainability matters is also positively related to performance.

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.

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This doctoral thesis contains three research papers in social finance, a field concerned with the financing issues of organizations aiming to solve social problems. Intertemporal Preferences of Nonprofit Organizations This paper studies the intertemporal preferences that govern the spending decision of nonprofit organizations. I estimate the subjective discount rate and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution based on an extension of the consumption Euler model that allows for heterogeneous parameter estimates with regards to donation dependency and size. Biting the Hand That Feeds You: Effects of Embezzlement in Nonprofits This paper studies how newspaper reports on embezzlement affect donations received by nonprofit organizations. Based on a unique data set on wrongdoings by top managers in nonprofits between 1995 and 2002, I provide evidence that the cost of weak governance in nonprofits is very high. What is the Business of Business? This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of new organizational forms, such as socially responsible firms and social enterprises, which embody the private sector’s efforts to resolve problems that typically have been within the purview of government and traditional charities. The framework yields an optimal investment policy, which typically Pareto-dominates many common social investment principles, such as break-even conditions, social screening and SROI. About the author Andreas Nilsson pursued his PhD in the Department of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. During this time, he was affiliated with the Swedish House of Finance and SIFR and spent two years as a visiting fellow at Harvard University. He is the founder of Sonanz, an asset management firm focused on social investments. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2014. Sammanfattning jämte 3 uppsatser</p>

Pensija – tai senatvės pajamos, skirtos kasdieniam senų žmonių vartojimui finansuoti. Šiandien beveik visi Lietuvos pensininkai, kaip ir daugelyje Europos šalių, pensijas gauna iš valstybės, t. y. valstybė turi finansuoti beveik visą pensininko vartojimą. Dėl ilgėjančio senų žmonių amžiaus ir mažėjančio gimstamumo didėja valstybės išlaidos senatvės pensijoms. Vienas iš siūlomų valstybės išlaidų mažinimo būdų – padidinti asmeninių santaupų vaidmenį senatvės pajamose. Manoma, kad ateityje daugelis pensinio amžiaus žmonių beveik visą savo vartojimą turės finansuoti iš asmeninių santaupų. Vadinasi, pensijų sistemos reforma padidins asmeninių santaupų svarbą. Asmeninių santaupų struktūra – esminis pensijų reformos klausimas. Lietuvos gyventojai, galėdami laisvai pasirinkti investicijų formas (vyriausybės taupymo lakštai, banko indėliai ir pan.) ir investicijų horizontą, dažniausiai savo santaupas laiko trumpalaikių banko indėlių forma. LR Vyriausybė įvedė privalomąjį kaupimą pensijų fonduose, dalį socialinių draudimo įmokų perduoti į privačius pensijų fondus. Šie fondai pradėjo veikti 2004 metų pradžioje. Pensijų fondų finansavimo šaltinis – privalomos darbuotojų įmokos. Privalomojo kaupimo pensijų įmoka yra atimama iš valstybinio socialinio pensijų draudimo įmokos. / According to the currently effective system in Lithuania funds collected from currently employed persons are immediately paid out to the existing pensioners (the solidarity principle of generations). Pensions currently paid are too low to maintain a “normal” living standard. The practices of well-developed Western countries suggest that an old age pension should make at least 70 per cent of the average wages previously earned by the person in order to maintain a similar living standard (now it represents about 40 per cent of average wages). In the future pensions are likely even to decrease in relative terms as life expectancy is getting longer and employed persons will have to maintain more and more pensioners. In order to ensure a higher living standard for future pensioners the pension reform has been launched recently. It may help to take care of one’s future and have a possibility to receive higher income when retired. Participation in private pension funds provides a possibility to accumulate pension funds in one’s personal account. Pension funds invest contributions paid by employed persons in shares, bonds and bank deposits. By investing part of income of individuals in the pension funds the Government is changing the structure of personal savings, and that influences the importance of certain segments of the financial sector (banks, capital market, insurance, etc.) in the Lithuanian economy.

This thesis discusses the potential for private investment to fund ambitious renewable energy research and development to help mitigate climate change. I begin by discussing the threat of global warming and a brief history of renewable energy development in the United States. Next, I discuss existing avenues for private investment in renewable energy, potential methods of increasing corporate participation, and the belief that businesses must maximize only financial profits. Then I perform an in-depth case study of pension funds that have incorporated a social or environmental mission, existing environmentally focused mutual funds, and liquidated clean energy mutual funds. Finally, I compare the historical performance of the existing mutual funds to the liquidated to determine a profit threshold below which clean energy focused funds fail and discuss optimal investment strategies to foster bold renewable energy investment.

Submitted by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-06-03T20:04:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 140412_FOppenheimer_FGV (2).pdf: 1514431 bytes, checksum: 9e46a23ba86b2d8ad56245733fe723ae (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-06-03T20:04:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 140412_FOppenheimer_FGV (2).pdf: 1514431 bytes, checksum: 9e46a23ba86b2d8ad56245733fe723ae (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-04T11:19:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 140412_FOppenheimer_FGV (2).pdf: 1514431 bytes, checksum: 9e46a23ba86b2d8ad56245733fe723ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-13 / The paper analyses how Impact Investors select their portfolio companies in Latin America and what criteria are assessed in the process. Since virtually no research on this has been conducted to date, and since the selection process model applied in Venture Capital is not dissimilar, that approach has been adopted. The findings reveal that Impact Investors originate and assess deals in a similar way to Venture Capitalists, but that some criteria are adjusted and others added in order to reflect the dual objective of Impact Investing. Impact Investors can originate deals passively, but they prefer searching for social ventures proactively: personal contacts, access to networks and industry events are crucial in this context. Impact Investors considering an investment in Latin America search for integer, honest and reliable social entrepreneurs committed to social impact; eligible social ventures must be profitable with potential for further scalability; the product must have a social impact, i.e. create value for the individual consumer and for the wider community; market size and market growth are crucial external factors; and the deal features depend on the investor’s risk attitude and the prospects of a successful exit in both financial and social terms. Impact Investors are also willing to provide non-financial support prior to an investment, if a social venture shows high potential for achieving their dual objective. / O documento analisa como investidores de impacto selecionar suas companhias de portfólio na América Latina e que critérios são avaliados no processo. Uma vez que praticamente ne-nhuma pesquisa sobre isso foi con conduzidos até à data, e desde que o modelo de processo de seleção aplicados em capital de risco não é dissemelhantes, foi adotado essa abordagem. Os resultados revelam que os investidores de impacto originar e avaliar negócios de uma for-ma semelhante a capitalistas de risco , mas que alguns critérios são ajustados e outros adicio-nados a fim de refletir o duplo objectivo de investimento de impacto. Os investidores de im-pacto podem originar ofertas passivamente, mas eles preferem procurar empreendimentos sociais de forma proativa: contatos pessoais, o acesso a redes e eventos do setor são cruciais neste contexto. Impacto Investidores considerando um investimento em pesquisa para a Amé-rica Latina inteira, empreendedores sociais honestos e confiáveis comprometidos com impacto social; empreendimentos sociais elegíveis devem ser rentáveis com potencial de escalabilidade; o produto deve ter um impacto social, ou seja, criar valor para o consumidor individual e para a comunidade em geral; tamanho do mercado e crescimento do mercado são fatores externos cruciais; e as características de negócio dependem de atitude de risco do investidor e as perspectivas de uma saída bem sucedida, tanto em termos financeiros e sociais. Os investi-dores de impacto também estão dispostos a dar apoio não financeiro antes de um investimen-to, se um empreendimento social, mostra alto potencial para atingir o seu objectivo dual.

Submitted by Philipp Dambach (philipp.dambach@gmail.com) on 2016-10-05T09:37:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1007676 bytes, checksum: 5ab68d6efd7a8606a6f70316ee4c942a (MD5) / Rejected by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br), reason: Dear Philipp, The number of pages are incorrect, it's counts from the first page but the number only appear in the introduction. best. Ana Luiza Holme 37993492 on 2016-10-05T12:07:50Z (GMT) / Submitted by Philipp Dambach (philipp.dambach@gmail.com) on 2016-10-05T12:32:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1006384 bytes, checksum: 48e705c5c456be0e2cbc6205b85705e4 (MD5) / Rejected by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br), reason: Dear Philipp, I apologize but I forgot to metion that the abstract is before the resumo. Also is missing the acknowledgment. Warm regards. Ana Luiza Holme 37993492 on 2016-10-05T14:22:17Z (GMT) / Submitted by Philipp Dambach (philipp.dambach@gmail.com) on 2016-10-05T15:22:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1007025 bytes, checksum: 5cba006abff9b93c7a4de8ca2fd08ecd (MD5) / Rejected by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br), reason: Dear Philipp, Only the acknowledgment is missing. Please include in the thesis before the abstract. Best. Ana Luiza Holme 37993492 on 2016-10-05T16:03:07Z (GMT) / Submitted by Philipp Dambach (philipp.dambach@gmail.com) on 2016-10-05T16:31:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1009654 bytes, checksum: deaf2c7429e1362493959d5203294fff (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-10-05T16:33:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1009654 bytes, checksum: deaf2c7429e1362493959d5203294fff (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-05T17:20:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 APPLYING PIOTROSKI’S F_SCORE TO THE GERMAN STOCK MARKET. EVIDENCE FROM 2002-2016..pdf: 1009654 bytes, checksum: deaf2c7429e1362493959d5203294fff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-28 / This work project applies Joseph Piotroski’s F_SCORE to the German stock market between 2002 and 2016. Considering the smaller size of the German stock market, a F_SCORE_ADD was created to differentiate between companies with the same score. Portfolios that went long in expected winners and shorted expected losers generated strong results within the small cap sample. For large caps, the abnormality of returns was not significant after controlling for common risk factors and quality. This relates to the results of other researchers and questions the practicality of the investment strategy for institutional investors with a large capital base to employ. / Esta dissertação aplica o F_SCORE de Joseph Piotroski ao mercado de ações alemão entre 2002 e 2016. Por causa do tamanho menor do mercado de ações alemão, um F_SCORE_ADD foi criado para diferenciar entre as empresas com a mesma pontuação. Carteiras que foram 'long' em vencedores esperados e 'short' em perdedores esperados renderam bons resultados dentro da amostra com empresas de baixo valor de mercado. Para as empresas de alta capitalização, a anormalidade de retornos não foi estatisticamente significante após o controle de fatores de risco comuns e qualidade. Isto relaciona-se com os resultados de outros investigadores e questiona a praticidade desta estratégia de investimento para os investidores institucionais com uma grande base de capital para empregar.