Using evidence from the microfinance sector, which is considered a leading sector of social entrepreneurship, this book attempts to push the boundaries of research in this field. While recent studies consider that commercial enterprises, not-for-profits and social enterprises are formed by entrepreneurs with different personal identities, they do not explain why these personalities may change before they convert their social enterprises, and change further at the stage of transitioning int...

In today’s global society, microfinance affords lower income individuals the opportunity to improve their economic situation through a democratic, market-based process. Advanced Technologies for Microfinance: Solutions and Challenges is the first book to systematically address technology’s impact on microfinance. It discusses a wide variety of technology applications that will define the next generation of the microfinance movement and it addresses the tough questions surrounding technolog...

A school of thought hails microcredit as a social innovation, a messiah to enable people to help themselves out of poverty through entrepreneurship. An opposing school of thought considers microcredit as a capitalist demon ensnaring the poor in poverty and debt. The layman and the million professionals working in this industry are at a loss to make sense of the stories that circulate about microcredit. This book provides this sense-making, useful for students, professionals, investors and ...

From Nobel Prize–winning economist Jean Tirole, a bold new agenda for the role of economics in societyWhen Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, he suddenly found himself being stopped in the street by complete strangers and asked to comment on issues of the day, no matter how distant from his own areas of research. His transformation from academic economist to public intellectual prompted him to reflect further on the role economists and their discipl...

The first comprehensive account of the growing dominance of the intangible economyEarly in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets ...

How governments can do a better job of supporting entrepreneurship and venture capitalSilicon Valley, Singapore, Tel Aviv—the global hubs of entrepreneurial activity—all bear the marks of government investment. Yet, for every public intervention that spurs entrepreneurial activity, there are many failed efforts that waste untold billions in taxpayer dollars. When has governmental sponsorship succeeded in boosting growth, and when has it fallen terribly short? Should...

Capitalism has been an unprecedented engine of wealth creation for many centuries, leading to sustained productivity gains and long-term growth and lifting an increasing proportion of humanity out of poverty. But its effects, and hence its future, have come increasingly under question: Is capitalism still improving wealth and well-being for the many? Or, is long-term value creation being sacrificed to the pressures of short-termism, with potentially far-reaching consequences for society, t...

The behavior of managers-such as the rewards they obtain for poor performance, the role of boards of directors in monitoring managers, and the regulatory framework covering the corporate governance mechanisms that are put in place to ensure managers' accountability to shareholder and other stakeholders-has been the subject of extensive media and policy scrutiny in light of the financial crisis of the early 2000s. However, corporate governance covers a much broader set of issues, which requ...

This book explores Public Procurement novelties and challenges in an interdisciplinary way. The process whereby the public sector awards contracts to companies for the supply of works, goods or services is a powerful instrument to ensure the achievement of new public goals as well as an efficient use of public funds. This book brings together the papers that have been presented during the "First Symposium on Public Procurement", a conference held in Rome last summer and to be repeated agai...

A unique book which chronicles the revealing ‘story' of microfinance, captures the rich diversity of the industry and explores the invaluable contribution of the Christian faith to this vibrant and fast-growing multi-billion dollar global business.

Offering a fresh look at the commonly accepted view of what constitutes good governance, Donald Nordberg explores the contexts of board decisions and draws upon his academic research and years of business and financial journalism in Europe, North America and Asia to provide a distinctive and pertinent contribution to the literature on corporate governance. The book:- Features 21 detailed case studies, drawn from international examples, to prompt discussion and analysis- Pro...

Comparative Corporate Governance considers the impact of globalization on corporate governance issues and highlights how, despite the effect it has clearly had, predictions of legal convergence have not come true. By adopting a comparative legal approach, this book explores the tensions that exist between convergence attempts and the persistence of local models of governance in the US, Europe and Asia.Veronique Magnier assesses institutional, cultural and sociological fact...