Ambiguity in the Attribution of Social Impact: A Study of the Difficulties of Calculating Filter Coefficients in the SROI Method

Marta Solórzano-García, Julio Navío-Marco and Luis Manuel Ruiz-Gómez
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Marta Solórzano-García: Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Julio Navío-Marco: Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Luis Manuel Ruiz-Gómez: Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: In order to analyse, manage, and compare social projects we need, among other things, to be able to measure their impact. One of the methodologies currently used to measure and manage social impact is Social Return on Investment (SROI). However, not all the results calculated by the SROI method are directly attributable to the project, and, therefore, to determine the real impact it is necessary to filter out the changes that the project has not produced. Filter coefficients perform this function. However, the theoretical logic on which the chain is constructed that converts the outputs into impacts is ambiguous. In this study, we will analyse twenty-five real cases where SROI was used to measure social projects. We will identify the difficulties of isolating and measuring impacts by performing a comparative study of the procedures that entities develop to calculate the filters. This allows us to calculate the impacts from the outputs. We will then propose the improvements needed to overcome these shortcomings.

Keywords: social return on investment (SROI); social impact measurement; accountability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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