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Using cost-benefit analysis and social return on investment to evaluate the impact of social enterprise: Promises, implementation, and limitations

Joseph J. Cordes

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2017, vol. 64, issue C, 98-104

Abstract: Since the early 2000’s there has been growing interest in using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) as a measure for assessing the performance of social enterprises. By analogy with its business counterpart, the Return on Investment (ROI), the SROI is a metric that compares the monetized social costs of a program with the monetized social benefits of achieving an outcome (or set of outcomes). For example, calculating the SROI of a nonprofit half-way house for drug addicts might involve estimating the reduced social costs attributable to successful rehabilitation of addicts, and comparing this to the social costs of operating the half-way house. Alternatively, the total return of a for-profit social enterprise providing affordable housing might consist both of the traditional private return on investment along with the economic value of meeting the housing needs of lower income households.

Keywords: Cost Benefit Analysis; Social Rate of Return; Social Impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:64:y:2017:i:c:p:98-104

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.11.008

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