“Social Return and Financing of Urban Regeneration Policiesâ€

This paper analyses an alternative measurement framework capable of capturing the return on investment of urban regeneration projects through a cost-benefit analysis. Financial returns on investment are calculated as the ratio between the benefits accruing from the performance of a given project and the funds involved in their implementation. Both, benefits and funds, must be named in monetary terms. However in urban regeneration projects, due to their dual economic and social nature, is more difficult to quantify the profits generated because most of them are subjective (greater quality of life, better community welfare, etc.). There is a wide array of value taking place in a urban regenerative process (economic value, blended value, social value) some of which are measurable in a traditional Investment/Return framework (with its implicit economic returns assumption) and more of which are not so that they remain partially hidden from stakeholders. Based on the foregoing, the purpose of this study is twofold: to go deeply on the cost-effectiveness ratio of urban regeneration projects through consideration of social impacts and to analyze some new alternative funding formulas that arise particularly in a time of financial constraint. The papers argues that the SROI (Social Return On Investment) method appears as the most appropriate measurement tool to capture the full public benefit as well as the Tax Increment Financing and the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas –Jessica, seem to be two innovative financing formulas based on a market approach.

Migration networks and return expectations. The case of Romanians in Spain

In recent years, studies concerning interpersonal relations and their various implications are increasingly being taken as a basis for analysing the migration process, to determine the nature and impacts of migratory networks on immigrants' socio-economic situation in their country of origin and in the host society. The existence or absence of social networks as well as the nature of ties (closed or open) are considered key factors in the success or failure of an immigrant’s life project and expectations of returning home. This paper explores the relationship between social capital accrued by migrations networks and expected return. The analysis is based on two types of social capital: bridging and bonding. A sample of Romanian immigrants in the region of Castellon was surveyed on a number of variables. Study results show that immigrants' expectations of return are negatively related to social capital at the place of destination, suggesting that when immigrants build bridging and bonding social capital in the host society their expectations of returning home decrease.This research was supported by Universitat Jaume I 2013 Research Promotion Plan (P1-1B2013-16)

Capturing the Invisible Wealth in Nonprofits to Overcome Myopic Perceptions

Since nonprofits use third-party funds for their activities, they are often perceived as resource managers or spending units, instead of being considered as social wealth generating entities. The aim of this study is to help to overcome this myopic perception by showing how the invisible wealth generated by these organizations can be made visible. We use the SROI methodology to do so, by identifying stakeholders, outcomes (tangible, intangible) and social impacts in a drug addiction treatment centre. The results show that social impact in monetary terms exceeds that of the inputs used, confirming the idea that addiction-based nonprofits are social wealth generating units. The conclusion drawn is that social impact measurement should be widely used as a management tool and a mechanism for reinforcing the social image of nonprofits

Donor Reaction to Non-Financial Information Covering Social Projects in Nonprofits: A Spanish Case

The notion of accountability in nonprofits suggests that these organisations should disclose financial and non-financial practices following a holistic model. In practice, the interest of both managers and researchers has focused primarily on donors and financial disclosures, for funding and methodological reasons respectively. From the perspective of impact investment, all of them, government, beneficiaries, private donors, managers and volunteers are expected to make their decisions based on non-financial information as investors expecting social returns. However, to what extent does project information that demonstrates that the non-profit organisation has achieved its social mission actually matter? The main objective of this paper is to analyse whether the donations received by non-governmental organisations NGOs are related to the information disclosed on the projects undertaken. We perform our analysis separately for individual, private and public donors. Our results show that public donors are more interested in financial disclosures, private donors find information about outcomes and impacts to be most useful and individual donors do not tend to use non-financial information when it comes to making decisions about whether to donate or not

Do online quizzes enhance performance in a summative assessment? An experience in the area of accounting

Son muchas las ventajas de los cuestionarios online como herramienta de evaluación. Pero, como todas las actividades desarrolladas a través de plataformas virtuales, escapan al control del docente, lo que podría reducir su eficacia si no se diseñan adecuadamente (Humphrey y Beard, 2014: 250). El objetivo de este trabajo es describir la experiencia en una asignatura de contabilidad con un sistema de evaluación que combina la evaluación continua mediante cuestionarios online y exámenes parciales con el tradicional examen final, y analizar si los cuestionarios online tienen un efecto en el rendimiento académico incremental al de los exámenes parciales. Se implementa el procedimiento de Heckman para analizar la relación entre el rendimiento en las distintas actividades de evaluación continua y el rendimiento en el examen final, utilizando datos de tres años académicos. Los resultados sugieren que el rendimiento en los cuestionarios online está positiva y significativamente relacionado con el rendimiento en el examen final, aunque su efecto marginal es menor que el de los exámenes parciales. La relación solo se observa para los estudiantes que aprueban el examen y en las partes que contienen preguntas del mismo tipo que los cuestionarios. Curiosamente, una encuesta revela que los estudiantes perciben los cuestionarios online como el elemento de la asignatura que más contribuye a su aprendizajeThe use of online quizzes as assessment tool provides significant advantages. However, similar to other tools implemented through virtual learning software, they are beyond the control of the lecturers. This fact might cast doubts on their effectiveness unless both activity and software were properly designed (Humphrey y Beard, 2014: 250). The objective of this paper is twofold: (1) describing the experience carried out in an accounting course where two continuous assessment tools (online quizzes and midterm face-to-face exams) are combined with the traditional final exam; (2) examining whether the online quizzes have an incremental effect on the academic performance to that of the midterm exams. To analyze the association between performance in continuous assessment activities and performance in the final exam, Heckman procedure has been implemented using data of three years. The results suggest that the online quizzes performance is positively and significantly related to the performance in the final exam, although the marginal effect is lower than that of the performance in the midterm face-to-face exams. This relation is found only in the group of students who pass the final exam, and in the parts of the exam that contain identical type of questions to online quizzes. Interestingly, the results of a survey reveal that students perceive the online quizzes as the element of the course that enhances most to their learning

Climate-related prudential regulation tools in the context of sustainable and responsible investment: a systematic review

Several major economies have already committed to achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The banking system in all countries has a key role to play in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, and academia has been researching the prudential regulation tools that will enable the incorporation of climate risk management into banking. However, no studies to date have attempted to systematize research on Climate-related Prudential Regulation Tools. This study conducts a systematic review of the English-language peer-reviewed literature produced on this topic in the period since the 2007–2008 financial crisis, revealing the state of the art and the research gaps. The thematic synthesis carried out in this study shows the experience of some countries in the implementation of these tools and the advancement of academic knowledge in this field. These findings can serve as a reference for the further development of a harmonized international framework to address climate risk in banking

Clustered firms and solvency in the Spanish ceramics industry

There is a vast literature on the advantages of agglomeration due to positive externalities arising within industrial concentrations like clusters or industrial districts. Empirical studies strongly suggest these benefits when the focus is on innovation or transmission of knowledge. If this is the case, then it is reasonable to expect that cluster benefits should result in better financial performance and higher solvency for clustered firms soon or later. However, the limited empirical support for the link between clusters and economic performance provides contradictory results. This paper goes deeper into this matter and aims to measure the resulting effects on the solvency of firms in agglomeration economies. Empirical analysis has been applied to a sample of 609 firms in the Spanish ceramic tile cluster to test for statistically significant differences in the levels of solvency between clustered and isolated firms. Then we analyze whether firm size and phase of the economic cycle are relevant. Study results show significant differences between large and small clustered firms, suggesting that size does matter in terms of capturing the benefits of clustering from the perspective of solvency

Information on social impact at NGOs. The case of the Spanish charitable foundations

Within the Spanish legislation, the requirements for inf ormation disclosure depend on the kind of organization. Most of Spanish Non - Governmental Organizations (NGOs) work as charitable foundations (a legal categorization of non - profit organizations), organizations where we focus on. In this paper we analyse the requirements that Spanish law establishes for the disclosure of social impact information for charitable foundations. Social impact is, probably, the best benchmark to measure the performance of this kind of non - profit organizations. There must be underli ned that Spain is divided into several regions (known as “Autonomias”), and some of these regions have specific rules for charitable foundations. Therefore, depending on the region where a NGO (foundation) is settled on, the requirements for information di sclosure can vary. In this paper we compare the different requirements that regions establish for their NGOs (charitable foundations) in the field of disclosure of information on social impact. And we also reflect on the adequacy of this information to the requirements of the stakeholders (donors, beneficiaries, community, ....

Contabilidad financiera I: teoría y ejercicios

Llicenciatura en Administració i Direcció d'Empreses. A01: Comptabilitat

Orientaciones para la redición de cuentas en materia de cooperación internacional para el desarrollo para entidades locales de la Comunitat Valenciana

El documento consiste en una guia con orientaciones para favorecer la rendición de cuentas en materia de cooperación para el desarrollo para entidades sociales e instituciones en la Comunitat Valenciana