Reclaiming monetary governance: how French convertible local currencies embed strong sustainability through participatory institutions

Nicolas Laurence ()
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Nicolas Laurence: UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes

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Abstract: This article examines whether French convertible local currencies (CLCs) can operationalise strong sustainability. Drawing on a national survey (53 associations, 431 professionals, 786 users) and a case study of the Eusko, multivariate analysis shows that participatory governance—not territorial scope—is the key organisational predictor of ecological selectivity, including supplier screening and environmental charter adoption. Qualitative evidence clarifies that mixed commissions and collective reserve allocation embed sufficiency criteria in daily practice. However, mandatory one-to-one euro convertibility constrain aggregate impact by linking local money supply to national liquidity cycles and limiting public-sector use. The findings indicate that CLCs can foster sufficiency-oriented innovation where subsidiarity is matched by deliberative capacity, but broader systemic influence depends on regulatory reforms to expand fiscal subsidiarity and green refinancing options. The study contributes empirical evidence to debates on monetary plurality and sustainable provisioning.

Keywords: Ecological economics; Polycentric governance; Strong sustainability; Monetary subsidiarity; Local Currency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05446720v1
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Published in Environmental Development, 2026, 57, pp.101332. ⟨10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101332⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05446720

DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101332

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