Social finance: What is social about it

Ozili, Peterson K (2025): Social finance: What is social about it. Forthcoming in:

Abstract

This study examines what constitutes social in social finance. It addresses the lack of understanding of the multifaceted ways in which social finance might be social. The common understanding is that social finance is only social in its use. This study challenges this narrow premise and argues that social finance can be social in its attributes both in its source, uses, infrastructure, policy and design. In other words, social finance can be social in (i) its source, (ii) its uses, (iii) the policy that enables social financing, (iv) the infrastructure used to facilitate social financing, and (iv) the nature or design of the contract that produces the financial instruments used to raise social funds. The implication is that social finance mechanisms can be designed to be social in several ways. Understanding the different ways in which social finance can be social will ensure that we do not dismiss emerging social finance innovations that are not social in their use, but are social in other aspects.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: social finance, green finance, digital finance, society, financial services, loans
• Subjects: G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G21 - Banks ; Depository Institutions ; Micro Finance Institutions ; Mortgages; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G23 - Non-bank Financial Institutions ; Financial Instruments ; Institutional Investors; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q0 - General > Q01 - Sustainable Development

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