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La Agenda 2030 y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) plantean la necesidad de profundos cambios para hacer frente a problemas de desarrollo de todo tipo a nivel global. Este ambicioso punto de partida no está exento de problemas, entre los que se incluyen las dudas sobre su implementación, o las posibles contradicciones entre los propios objetivos. El artículo estudia las implicaciones del ODS 8, que junto al empleo propone el crecimiento económico como un mecanismo para avanzar en el cumplimiento de la Agenda y sus objetivos. Partiendo de una revisión del concepto del crecimiento, en el marco de las teorías sobre desarrollo, se analizan los posibles conflictos con otros ODS centrados en objetivos sociales o ambientales.

Public administration is a key agent for achieving development goals, and this is recognised in the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. This international consensus requires the involvement of a large number of agents, and the mainstreaming of these global challenges into public policies. However, a practice that could be key in this regard, such as public procurement, does not receive sufficient attention within this framework. Faced with a broad range of goals and targets that cover environmental, economic and social issues, the 2030 Agenda lacks an adequate framework and tools to address the solution to these challenges, and public procurement could have greater prominence as a driver of progress for a number of these goals. The paper studies the role and potential of public procurement as an instrument of policy to contribute to the international development agenda. Therefore, the paper analyses documentation and reports of the main institutions that have worked on these issues to date: United Nations, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite having been considered in the design of the Agenda, subsequent reports by the United Nations give little importance to the role of public procurement, which contrasts with that expressed by civil society.

Purpose Recognising the importance of universities in the achievement of social and global objectives, this paper aims to study the relevance of the global reporting initiative (GRI) methodology for reporting University Social Responsibility (USR) activities, taking into account the specificity of higher education institutions (HEI). Design/methodology/approach After a review of the literature and background, the European HEI reports prepared according to the latest version of GRI standards are selected and a comparative study is carried out. The analysis focusses on comparing to what extent the standards are responding to the information needs generated in the field of higher education. Findings General issues, common to all types of organisations, are adequately reported by HEIs, but difficulties are encountered in integrating a vision that incorporates the role of their missions in standards related to economic, social and environmental aspects. Research limitations/implications There are few GRI reports with this format and further research is encouraged as the number of reports increase. So far, major limitations have been found by HEIs to account for their societal missions when using the GRI. Practical implications The debates on USR are promoting an increase in the number of reports on sustainability. This paper provides some examples of the use of disclosures that can be adapted in this context, to move towards the systematisation of these practices. Originality/value This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first comparative study on the application of GRI to sustainability reports at a European level, focussing on the adequacy between disclosures and missions.

Desde que, hace más de dos décadas, comenzaran a plantearse en la OCDE los análisis sobre la Coherencia de Políticas para el Desarrollo (CPD), estos han ido evolucionando, al tiempo que lo hacían los debates sobre la necesaria reforma del sistema de cooperación internacional. Sin embargo, las sucesivas reuniones de Roma, París, Accra o Busan, que dieron forma a la agenda de la Eficacia de la Ayuda, se centraron en una visión tecnocrática y unilateral de la eficacia, alejada del enfoque de CPD. Posteriormente, la creación de la Alianza Global para la Cooperación Eficaz al Desarrollo no ha supuesto tampoco un cambio de rumbo en esta cuestión. El artículo muestra la llamativa ausencia de la CPD en las reuniones y declaraciones, lo que contrasta con su notable evolución en el plano doctrinal, y plantea las potencialidades que presenta la Agenda 2030 para la CPD. Analyses of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) began to arise in the OECD more than two decades ago. These approaches have evolved while the discussions about the necessary reform of the system of international cooperation were taking place. However, the meetings in Rome, Paris, Accra and Busan, and the Aid Effectiveness agenda, focused on a technocratic and unilateral vision of efficiency, away from the approach of CPD. Subsequently, the creation of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation has not meant a change of course on this issue. The article shows the striking absence of the CPD at conferences and declarations, which contrasts with its remarkable evolution in the doctrinal level, and raises the potentialities of the 2030 Agenda for the CPD

This article analyses the determinants for social and economic efficiency in microfinance institutions using a seemingly unrelated regression. We find two factors that improve their relative efficiency: legal status and target market; however, age and scale are not clear determinants. The main contribution of this paper is to engage microfinance institutions to achieve the desired social efficiency without giving up economic efficiency as the two can be complementary; moreover, it is possible to be efficient as a Non Banking Financial Institution/Non-Governmental Organization with small size and low-end target, at least. The paper is a new contribution in line with the so-called paradox of social cost. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Las técnicas de valoración de empresas se centran en aspectos económico-financieros, que no resultan suficientes para las entidades no lucrativas, cuyas prioridades se asocian a la consecución de un interés general. Hasta ahora, diversas técnicas de contabilidad social como el Valor Social Integrado (VSI) han servido para reflejar estas inquietudes en las entidades no lucrativas. En este artículo, utilizando un museo como caso ilustrativo, se va a demostrar cómo es posible la valoración de las entidades no lucrativas utilizando la contabilidad social, y aprovechando al tiempo (de forma adaptada) las bases de las técnicas de valoración de empresas. Los principales resultados demuestran, en primer lugar, que el Valor Social Integrado es una variable monetizable, y por tanto útil y sencilla para realizar valoraciones de entidades. Aunque esta variable puede ser utilizada para todo tipo de organizaciones, para las no lucrativas es esencial ya que permite la comparación de su dimensión social, más acorde con su propósito como entidades. La principal contribución consiste en demostrar que es posible calcular el Valor Social Esperado (VSE, mediante la proyección y actualización de VSI) para valorar entidades de todo tipo. Esto tiene también implicaciones en las teorías relacionadas con la valoración de empresas, que podrán tener en cuenta variables más allá de las meramente económicas o transaccionales, y adaptarse a las situaciones actuales donde lo social es una variable más a valorar por parte de los decisores, tanto estratégicos, institucionales, como inversionistas.

Discussions on Official Development Assistance, its effectiveness and interest are not new, but the current crisis has increased the critical pressure in this regard. In this context it is important to review the role of ODA -traditionally linked to the reduction of poverty and inequality- to analyze its relationship with the changes in these variables, and also the potential influence of this on its own identity. To do this, the work first examines the evolution of the discourse on these issues, and then analyzes the limited evidence on the impact of ODA in the evolution of these questions during the period 1990-2010.

Development Cooperation, in addition to clear social and political support, originated from a context which represented a coherent contribution within the framework of Development Theory. However, from the 1980s with the rise of neoliberal ideas, debates on development and the international cooperation system and its strategies took different directions. Currently, the definition and monitoring of the Agenda has become the centre of debate, with the conse-quent abandonment of the theoretical and historical perspectives as well as the traditional perception of development as a process of transformation of reality. This disconnection between ideas on development and cooperation has led to a long-standing confusion over cooperation, with its role becoming increasingly unclear. This paper highlights the need to return to the relation-ship between theoretical reflection on development and cooperation strate-gies, through a process of identifying problems, studying their causes and con-sequently designing strategies. The way in which these links are created will open up the possibility of proposing alternatives according to the risks and challenges to be faced La Cooperación al Desarrollo nació en un contexto en el que, además de un claro respaldo social y político, suponía un aporte coherente en el marco de la Teoría del Desarrollo. Sin embargo, a partir de los 80, con el auge de las ideas neoliberales, los debates sobre el desarrollo y el sistema de cooperación internacional y sus estrategias tomaron caminos diferentes. Actualmente, la definición y seguimiento de las Agendas se ha convertido en el centro del debate, con el consiguiente abandono de la perspectiva teórica e histórica, así como de la percepción tradicional del desarrollo como proceso de trans-formación de la realidad. La desconexión entre las ideas sobre desarrollo y la cooperación ha llevado a una situación de larga crisis de la cooperación, cuyo papel cada vez es menos claro. El artículo plantea la necesidad de retomar la relación entre la reflexión teórica sobre el desarrollo y las estrategias de coo-peración, siguiendo un proceso de identificación de problemas, estudio de sus causas y consiguiente diseño de estrategias. La forma en que estos vínculos se construyan marcará las posibilidades de plantear alternativas acordes con los riesgos y retos que afrontamos

Financial exclusion situations persist around the world, despite the financialization processes of the economy in recent years, and are widespread in low- and middle-income countries, affecting their development potential. Microfinance has thus been a response that combines proximity to low-income clients with adapted, socially oriented and efficient practices. The growth of the sector has been externally supported by development agencies, multilateral institutions and other international organizations, which have deemed it to be a novel financial and development instrument, but doubts still remain regarding its sustainability. The article studies the period 2006-2013 using a broad sample of traditional and microfinance banks, showing the feasibility of the sector in terms of profitability, solvency and risk, and comparing this model with the traditional banking one in those contexts.

This article studies the differences between traditional financial intermediaries (commercial banks, savings banks and cooperative banks) and ethical banks based on property rights, in which the owner decides the ideology, principles, standards and objectives of the organisation. In ethical banking, affinity centres on positive social and ethical values. The article consequently focuses on an index proposed both to differentiate ethical banks from other types of banks, and also to pinpoint the differences between the various ethical banks themselves. This is the Radical Affinity Index (RAI), which groups banks together in terms of their stance on ethical commitment, concentrating on ethical ideology and principles (information transparency, placement of assets, guarantees and participation) and using a sample of 114 European banks. The evidence shows that transparency of information and placement of assets are factors that differentiate ethical banks from other financial intermediaries. Guarantees and participation are characteristics specific to ethical banks; these variables, however, do not offer clear evidence to our analysis.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) is undergoing a process of debate. The setting of the Millennium Development Goals brought a significant boost in the amounts of money spent on ODA, which was later reinforced by the Monterrey Conference (2002), where efforts were made to redefine the role of ODA compared to other growing private flows, setting a new agenda to finance the development. The discussion on aid effectiveness and the Paris Declaration (2005) seemed to add opportunities for rethinking ODA, and giving it a new meaning.However, during the first decade of the 21st century, and especially with the advent of the global crisis, we face a picture of ODA tendency towards stagnation, with serious doubts about the fulfilment of its commitments, and without a clear definition of its role.In this context, the rise of decentralized co-operation driven by local governments in some European countries is a poorly understood phenomenon, which may offer alternatives to redefine the role of ODA, but has not yet clearly defined its specificity and potential.

Las Instituciones Microfinancieras se contemplan como organizaciones que deben atender a objetivos económico-financieros, al tiempo que atienden a una finalidad social. Desde una perspectiva optimista, se ha considerado a los programas de microfinanzas como una nueva clave para el desarrollo, suponiendo que tienen por su propia naturaleza un importante valor añadido social. Este artículo contribuye, a partir de una amplia base de datos, al estudio de las variables asociadas a los objetivos sociales y financieros de las Instituciones Microfinancieras. En el conjunto de los datos, que reflejan grandes diferencias entre las entidades, no se observan relaciones entre el tamaño de las mismas, su rentabilidad y desempeño social.________________________________________________Microfinance is often considered a “double bottom line” sector, which refers to organizations that take care of their financial side and their social responsibility, trying to give minimum coverage to both. An optimistic vision of microfinance programs as a new key for development considered that they had, in themselves, an important social value. This paper contributes to the study of the relations between variables linked to social and financial purposes of a wide database of Microfinance Institutions. The data reflect large differences between the entities, but no relation is found between the size, profitability and social performance of institutions.