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Impact investing, a new form of investment intended to create positive social and environmental impacts beyond financial returns, has prevailed around the globe. As a hybrid concept, impact investing embodies social responsibility and financial sustainability, and its development has been a collaborative effort engaging players from the public, private and third sectors. Such an unprecedented convergence of tri-sector stakeholders has also brought about new challenges. Despite the proliferation of research reports of impact investing in the practitioners' field, little systematic study has been devoted to understanding the intractability of effective collaboration and its policy perspective in this cross-sector arena. Hong Kong has also been enthusiastic about impact investing, however, not all of the momentum has translated into concrete actions. Local players are still trapped in their own silos with limited investing activities, and "cross-sector collaboration"remains a black box. An empirical inquiry into the collaborative issues in Hong Kong's local context is long overdue. Given the launch of the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund by the Hong Kong SAR, the policy implications of impact investing and the role of government can be explored using concrete examples. To address the challenge confronting collaboration, this study seeks answers to three research questions. First, what factors influence impact investors to collaborate with other stakeholders? Second, how are the collaborative dynamics shaped to induce impact-investing activities? Third, what effect does government intervention have on this collaboration? The research design is framed by the collaborative governance model, rested on the theoretical foundation of collective action. As an exploratory study, the literature review draws upon a board set of extant frameworks and propositions to generate observable implications such as resource dependency theory and power dynamics to understand the motives, means and barriers in collaboration. It is a multi-phased qualitative case study on four impact investors in Hong Kong through analysis of documents, interviews and observations. Process-tracing and multiple narratives are employed to further develop two embedded cases of collaborative projects. The cross-case comparison reveals how starting conditions and collaboration process affect different types of impact investors/venture philanthropists, with both commonalities and variations in the generic rationale of stakeholder engagement and specific consideration on typical investment. The paradoxes of embeddedness vs publicness, and institutionalization vs joint discretion are discussed. Recommendations are made on the respective roles backbone organization and government could play to best use impact investing in the era of collaborative governance for a better society. ; published_or_final_version ; Politics and Public Administration ; Master ; Master of Philosophy

Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) were set up to provide banking services by way of funds mobilization and offering of credit to cottage industry operators, farmers, fishermen, and regular salaried employees. These banks are not obliged to undertake Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities but are expected by some stakeholders such as citizens in the community to devote part of their profits to meet social developmental activities. This study examines the CSR practices among RCBs in Ghana by adopting a mixed method approach. A combination of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and cross-sectional survey was employed to gather detailed information from 86 respondents who are associated with the selected RCBs. Data collected from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and annual reports were analyzed using content analysis and presented in themes and models. Using the binomial test and descriptive statistics, questionnaire responses were analyzed and presented. We found that among RCBs, CSR has become synonymous to community and social development as managers accept the value that CSR can create in business. Additionally, it was found that three major stages are involved in the planning and implementation of CSR by RCBs. The researchers recommend that RCBs put together CSR policy guidelines, which will form the basis for CSR engagements in their respective banks.

This thesis examines the potential contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the achievement of a positive peace in societies where violence has penetrated the social structure. The objective of the research is to explore how CSR can be designed to enable companies embracing a peace-oriented approach in conducting their businesses. CSR, in fact, is a well-established business practice, which is evolving along with the growing public demand for ethical, sustainable and responsible business performances. The research investigates how CSR can be functional to a shift from a business paradigm traditionally focused on profit maximization, to a peace business paradigm that considers social needs, equity and respect for the environment, values to be integrated at the core of business strategies and operations. CSR potential contribution to positive peace is investigated using structuration theory as a framework. Such perspective sets the premises for creating a model according to which companies are agents embedded in a social structure and able to interact with it through their CSR initiatives. The concept of positive peace has been chosen as the lens from where to look at the highlighted process ongoing in countries affected by structural violence. To meet the objective, the study relies on a case emerged from the context of Belize: the Belize Natural Energy Ltd.'s CSR profile and initiatives. Data come from 23 contributions in the form of semi-structured interviews and open conversations, providing insights into the Belizean culture of violence, the social role played in the country by the private sector, and in particular into the company's CSR strategies and initiatives. Data collected from the local informants denote that Belize is a country at peace in a very narrow sense, the country social structure is facilitating violence, and to foster peace a transformative approach is necessary. Moreover, they indicate that BNE Ltd.'s CSR is sound and consistent with the company mission, vision and values, and that its initiatives are able to positively influence society. The study findings suggest that if BNE Ltd. would invest its resources in integrating CSR into the core of all its operations and in monitoring the initiatives' impact on society recursively, the company could be a welcomed agent of change in Belize. The study findings ultimately indicate that CSR, in order to enable a significant structural change, need to be effective and profitable. In terms of effectiveness, CSR has to target social needs and structural issues specific of a local context via initiatives aimed at substantively impacting society, so as to reinforce the positive structures and transform instead the detrimental ones, thus preventing them from reproducing themselves. In terms of profitability, CSR has to be collectively endorsed and sustainable in time; in other words, consistent with company's values, embedded in the company culture, and ideally integrated in the company business operations. The study contributes in bringing evidence on the current debate on the redefinition of business value, as a shared value. In this context, companies need to find their modalities and incentives to shift from a profit-oriented mandate to a social one, from a traditional business paradigm to a peace business one, knowing that companies embracing such shift can actively contribute in transforming social structures promoting a positive peace Key words: Corporate Social Responsibility, positive peace, peace business, structural violence, Structuration Theory, structure, agent, Creating Shared Value, Belize, Belize Natural Energy Ltd.

Razvoj društveno odgovornih politika i praksi promatra se ne samo preko prizme konkurentske prednosti, nego kao ključan čimbenik za održivu budućnost tvrtke, ali i društva u cjelini. Promocijom društveno odgovornoga poslovanja tvrtke šalju poruke različitim skupinama kao što su ulagači, potrošači, zaposlenici te tako ulažu u svoju budućnost. Niz dokumenata i deklaracija kao što su UN Global Compact i Strategija održivog razvoja naglašavaju važnost društveno odgovornoga ponašanja. Potrošači su sve svjesniji značenja takva ponašanja tvrtki te, u skladu s tim, imaju i očekivanja odgovornoga ponašanja. Činjenica je da globalno zatopljenje te sve veće iskorištavanje prirodnih resursa potiču primjenu društveno odgovornoga poslovanja (DOP-a), kako na državnim razinama i institucijama pisanjem raznih naputaka, globalnih ciljeva, tako i na korporativnim razinama uključivanjem u strategije kompanija. Održivi razvoj smatra se ključem opstanka društva. U Bosni i Hercegovini društveno odgovorno ponašanje nejasno je i složeno definirano, zarobljeno u raljama složeno ustavno-pravnoga poretka države, fragmentiranosti BiH tržišta, nedovoljne razvijenosti zemlje, složenosti donošenja bilo kakvih odluka te filantropijskoga razmišljanja unutar kompanija. Proces približavanja Bosne i Hercegovine Europskoj uniji odvija se sporo. Godišnji izvještaji, smjernice i politike stalno ukazuju na potrebe bržega razvoja socioekonomskoga okruženja. Cilj je ovoga rada prikazati ekonomske i pravne pretpostavke za razvoj društveno odgovornoga poslovanja u Bosni i Hercegovini. Za cjelovitiju sliku primjene DOP-a u praksi, bit će obrađeni primjeri tvrtki. ; The development of socially responsible politics and praxis is viewed not only through the prism of competitive advantage, but as a key factor for sustainable future of a company, as well as for the society as a whole. By promoting corporate social responsibility, the companies send messages to different groups, such as investors, consumers, employees and in that way they invest in their future. A series of documents and declarations such as UN Global Impact and Strategy of Sustainable Development emphasize the importance of corporate social responsibility. Consumers are becoming more aware of such behaviour of a company, and following that they have the expectations of responsible behaviour. It is evident that global heating and increased exploit of natural resources initiate a change of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) on both the state and institutional levels through adoption of different instructions and global goals, and on corporate levels through inclusion in the companies' strategies. Sustainable development is considered the key to the survival of society. Corporate social behaviour in Bosnia and Herzegovina is unclear and defined in a complex way, trapped in the composite constitutional-legal system of the country, influenced by fragmentation of B&H market, insufficient development of the country, the complexity of adoption of any kind of decisions and philanthropic thinking within companies. The process of accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU runs slowly. Annual reports, instructions and politics are constantly indicating the need for quicker development of socio-economic environment. The goal of this work is to present economic and legal assumptions for the development of corporate social responsibility in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the complete picture of the application of CSR in practice, the examples of companies will be elaborated.

Immigrant entrepreneurship, like other facets of entrepreneurship, contributes towards a country's productivity, partly through employment creation. However, the specific factors, in the form of social capital, that lend themselves to this employment creation potential, remain largely unknown. It is against this background that this study sought to determine if the variables of language proficiency and networking ability bear an association with the employment creation ability of African immigrant entrepreneurs.This quantitative study was executed from a positivism philosophical standpoint. Relying on the population of African immigrants in the small business sector in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique, the non-probability sampling techniques of convenience and snowball sampling were used to identify 2,500 participants. Data were collected in a cross-sectional manner, with self-administered questionnaires and an effective 33% response rate was realized.Findings reveal a statistically significant relationship between language proficiency and employment creation, while that between networking ability and employment creation was not significant. Nonetheless, most of the studied African immigrant entrepreneurs across the countries agreed that language proficiency and networking ability have helped them cope with the rigors of operating their businesses. These findings signal the need for interventions for building language proficiency and networking ability for African immigrant entrepreneurs.

The subject of the study is the theoretical foundations of crowdfunding as a promising source of funding for business and social projects in Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate the essence of crowdfunding and substantiate the prospects for its further development in Ukraine. Research methods. The dialectical method of scientific cognition, analysis, method of comparison and generalization of data are used in the work. Results of work. The article clarifies the essence of the type, the conditions of crowdfunding. The benefits of crowdfunding for developers and investors are considered. The conditions of various crowdfunding platforms are described. It is established that this type of financing is not widespread in Ukraine. Risks for crowdfunding entities have been identified. It is established that the introduction of basic concepts in the field of crowdfunding in the legal field will allow to use its potential to the full. The key factors that stimulate crowdfunding have been identified. The specific features of crowdfunding in Ukraine are highlighted. Field of application. Innovation management, financial management, enterprise finance. Conclusions. The results of the study allow us to state that the legislative field is vital for the further active development of crowdfunding in Ukraine. Crowdfunding has the potential to become an alternative form of financing business projects at an early stage. The key advantages of crowdfunding are the support of innovative solutions and startups, the creation of a transparent and effective mechanism for public funding of projects