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The article presents research on the consideration of microfinance as common goods among the community development banks (CDB) in Brazil. The structure of CDBs is analyzed through the use of eight different design principles considering CDBs as microcredits. The study shows the significant effect of institutional monitoring and governance on the provision of suitable and inclusive services for the community members and the guarantee of efficient sustainability control. The management of microfinance institutions is also illustrated.

How should donors fund microfinance enterprises and maximize social impact? Should they spread contributions across organizations or concentrate them? We address this thorny issue by assessing separately how the act of giving a donation and the amount donated affect the social performance of MFOs worldwide. Drawing on signaling theory, we hypothesize that the act of giving has a more significant impact on social performance than the actual amount donated. Moreover, we show an imprinting effect on social performance that persists even when donations dry up. That is, the enhanced social performance observed during subsidized periods is not reversed during subsequent unsubsidized periods. The persistence of subsidy-linked social performance suggests that designing smart-subsidy strategies is appropriate for the microfinance industry in order to maximize social benefits while keeping market distortions under control. Further, the global social impact of diversified donor contributions across many organizations may be greater than that of concentrated funding in a few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementary currencies (CCs) represent one of the financial initiatives aiming to reorganize finance for the collective interest at microscale. The objective of this article is to analyze the shared dimensions of such alternative currencies, and therefore define to what extent they constitute new commons. To this end, the article first sheds light on two main conceptions of the commons, the institutionalized commons in organizational studies and the "common principle" in business ethics. Second, we analyze the commons dimensions of seven CC systems. We contribute to the literature through the combination of different approaches on the commons that are usually isolated and provide a new understanding of money through the analysis of community currencies. The findings show how these monetary systems and organizations can be considered as commons according to the "common principle" framework since they promote the common interest through the creation of new communities. Nevertheless, only systems relying on collective action and self-management form new commons according to the institutionalized commons framework. This allows us to suggest two categories of common principle governing organizations: the "social common" that fulfills both the institutionalized commons framework and "common principle", and the "commercial commons" that fulfill the "common principle" but not the institutionalized one. Finally, we argue for a new ethos of the common, a principle of organizing commons practices through both collective organization and ethical concern for human flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the social entrepreneurial potential of the rule-breaking practices of microfinance programs' beneficiaries. We empirically apply the positive theory of social entrepreneurship that views social entrepreneurship as a pursuit of neglected positive externalities. Using the storyboard methodology, the paper examines the strategies employed by the poor in Burundi to bypass institutional rules. We argue that illicit practices can in fact be interpreted as value-creating entrepreneurial acts and be symptomatic of an emergent social-entrepreneurial orientation. Our findings cast a spotlight on issues of agency and empowerment, questioning and contextualizing the definition of social value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explore the tensions shaping hybrid organizations. For this purpose we investigate ten MFIs in Kenya and Vietnam that are transforming from non for profit to for profit organizations. While scholars tend to consider hybridiy as a homogenous form, our analysis based 62 interviews with active actors in microfinance reveals plurality. Using the paradox lens, we identified three main areas of tensions--redefining identity, legitimizing transformation and redefining boundaries--which significantly participate in shaping hybrid organizations. Our results suggest that hybrid organizations struggle to cope with the tensions emerging from the multiple institutional logics especially as the balance between the logics is changing and the tensions are evolving over time. Our evidences show that hybridity is not a given, on the contrary there is a strong push towards a 'monologic' form. Retaining hybridity requires efforts and adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]