Social and Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing (SSFII) Conference

at the University of Oxford, Oriel College. Date: 16. - 17. April (18. for paper development seminar)
in collaboration with the

CONFERENCE STREAMS:

• Social and Sustainable Finance with a Global Governance and Economic Perspective

• Impact Investing - Social and Financial Risk and Returns, Cases and Conceptualizations

• Environmental Markets and Finance, Stranded Assets and Carbon Markets

• Interdisciplinary Perspectives, e.g. Ethics, CSR, CG, Motives, Identity

• Crowdfunding and Venture Capital

• Social Entrepreneurship as a broader context

Keynote Speakers:

Prof. Gordon Clark, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford
Prof. Alex Nicholls, SAID Business School, University of Oxford
Prof. Othmar M. Lehner, ACRN Oxford Research Centre
Dr. John Hoffmire, Impact Investment Funds, SAID Business School, University of Oxford
Dr. Matthew Haigh, SOAS, University of London

KEY DATES FOR THE CONFERENCE:

Full drafts of papers/ chapters (5000-7000 words) to be submitted by 30 November 2014.

Follow the guidelines for authors for our journals.
Word Template available here.

Second review round follows in December, Final Acceptance in January, Final Conference Registration in February
All accepted papers are also screened by our partner journals and by the editor of the Routledge Handbook series.

Fee: £ 360,- including full program, lunches and evening networking dinner on Thursday.

CALL:

Over the last few years, sociological as well as economic developments have combined to raise the level of activities and policy interest in various forms of social and sustainable finance and investments. However, funding sources and rationales for these initiatives have been neglected so far in the literature as distinct subjects for inquiry. Nevertheless, foundations, individual- and group investors, the global internet-crowd, as well as government agencies have become increasingly interested and willing to support more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable forms of funding and wealth creation.
New institutions and actors have been exploring hybrid logics, mechanisms and rationales for investment that combine social and environmental components of value, together with personal values and the disciplined pursuit of financial returns - this often despite the lack of availability of suitable metrics and instruments for building such portfolios. Public and private philanthropic finance have been explored as a means to encourage and empower innovative private (social)-entrepreneurial activities aiming to deliver social value and at the same time becoming financially independent through market-based activities. However, at the present stage of development there seems to be no rational, efficient global market - more a network of supply, demand, and intermediary groups linking capital and projects. We want to know more about projects, players and their rationales when it comes to social finance and impact investments and the entrepreneurs that deliver the promises.
At the same time sustainable finance addresses a heterogeneous hodgepodge of various investments aiming for environmental, social or economic sustainability, with a strong focus on risk management. While everyone seems to approve its value proposition, few actually agree on the definition and scope of ‘sustainable finance and investment’. Many scholars however see a strong overlap and blurred boundaries between ‘social’ and ‘sustainable’ finance, especially when looking at the societal and economic developments that lead to the emergence of both of these concepts. The third pillow of sustainability, environmental perspectives finally displays a special high relevance given the onset of climate change, and its economic and societal impacts remain far from being comprehended. In all perspectives we are looking for theoretical as well as practical insights, from academia and professionals, from a variety of perspectives.


We are looking for full paper submissions for double blind review on (including among others):

The Landscape of Social and Sustainable Finance and Investments
• The ‘Whatness’ and Limits of Sustainable Investment
• Impact Investing, Funding Social Innovation and Related Actors
• Cooperative, Public and Mutual Finance
• Micro-Finance and Micro-Lending
• Venture Philanthropy
• Crowd-Funding and Retail Social Investors
• Environmental Finance and Investment

Challenges, Suggestions, Critiques, and Debates
• Critical Dimensions of Social and Sustainable Finance
• Performance Measurement and Suitable Metrics
• Regulation and Public Policy
• Islamic Finance
• Risk Society and Its Implications
• Hybrid Rationalities and Forms
• Historical Backgrounds on Social and Sustainable Finance
• Discourse Analysis and the Concept of Power
• The Role of Welfare States
• Financial Markets Reforms and Policy Issues
• Corporate governance and Corporate Social Responsibility

Markets and Institutions
• Carbon and Environmental Finance Markets
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Case studies
• Human rights and Emerging Markets
• Social and Sustainable Banking
• Environmental Accounting
• The Scale - and Scaling of Social Investments
• Crowdfunding as Market
• Neo-Institutionalisms- and Social Origins Perspectives
• Investment Portfolio Construction
• Public Private Partnerships and Public Policies
• Principal Agent Theory and Information Economics
• Social Risk and Impact Management
• Metrics, Instruments and Mathematical Approaches
• Business Models in the Hybrid Venture Area
• CSR markets and Corporate Sustainability monitoring

Wa are also open for related ideas!





This conference is in combination with the forthcoming Taylor & Francis Routledge Handbook of Social and Sustainable Finance, and the
Routledge Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment and the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship as partner journals.
All accepted papers are also screened for these additional publication outlets.

THE HANDBOOK:

This handbook, containing the most comprehensive and up-to-date collection of writings in social and sustainable finance, will stand as a standard reference work for students, academics, policy makers, analysts and other professionals. Bringing in inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives, including relevant sociological and political dimensions, the publication will find a place on the shelves of major university libraries, policymakers and financial professionals around the globe. The conference will provide an outlet for discussion of the individual chapters and allow for further publishing opportunities.

The purposes of the handbook are as follows:

• To clarify the concepts of social finance and sustainable finance and to delineate their boundaries;
• To map out, display and scale the disparate voices, traditions and public and professional communities engaged in social finance and sustainable finance;
• To develop a range of analytical approaches, theoretical constructs and metrics for decision-making.



Looking forward to seeing you in Oxford! - Register here

Prof. Dr. Othmar M. Lehner MBA,
Conference Chair

Director of Programme, ACRN Oxford Centre
Visiting Academic, SAID Business School, University of Oxford
olehner@acrn.eu othmar.lehner@sbs.ox.ac.uk

ACRN Oxford Ltd., 1 Kings Meadow, OX2 0DP Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom


Scientific Advisory board 2013
Dr. Alex Nichols, SAID Business School, University of Oxford, UK
Dr. Simon Taylor, Director of Master of Finance Program, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK
Dr. Wim A. Van der Stede, CIMA Professor of Accounting and Financial Management, LSE - London School of Economics, UK
Dr. Matthew Haigh, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK
Dr. Heimo Losbichler, Department Leader Finance and Accounting, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
Dr. Juha Kansikas, Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Dr. Barbara Verardo MBA, Senior Specialist, World Bank Washington D.C. and University of Oxford
Dr. Elisabeth Menschl, Senior Lecturer in Research Philosophy and Ethics, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria
Prof. Alex Murdock, Professor of Third Sector Research, London South Bank University, UK
Dr. Shambu Prasad, Professor in Rural Management and Development, Xavier Institute of Management India
Mira Übleis, MSc., Students Representative, European School of Economics, UK
Dr. Michael Roither, Department Leader, University of Salzburg and Danube University, Austria
Dr. Saadiah Mohamad, Professor of Economics, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Pascal Dey, Docent of Sociology, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Millennium goals that need to be addressed by research on social entrepreneurship and policy