News, ideas, research in social entrepreneurship and philanthropy, from the Marshall Institute
📢 News
Do we become more altruistic during a crisis? Professor Nava Ashraf, who leads the Marshall Institute's Altruistic Capital research, believes giving increases when people feel more vulnerable, interconnected and dependent on each other. "People fundamentally want to feel better about themselves in this moment of profound anxiety," Professor Ashraf told the Wall Street Journal. "One of the best ways to feel better is to give to other people."
Smaller-scale altruistic acts, such as neighbourly kindness and volunteering, have helped to build and strengthen social capital during the pandemic, even as other forms of capital crumble, argues Andy Haldane, Chief Economist of the Bank of England. Others believe the crisis will change the way organisations treat employees and customers: "Now the 'S' in ESG is coming to the fore" said one asset manager.
Plus: how social enterprises are getting together to support each other globally; the problem with modelling... and has the lockdown been particularly unfair to female economists?
>Covid Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs
Launched this week by the World Economic Forum, the Alliance brings together over 40 leading global organisations to help social businesses survive during covid-19. Organisations include: Acumen, Ashoka, B Lab, Echoing Green, Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), Impact Hub, and Skoll Foundation
> Cash Relief for Entrepreneurs Everywhere
Covidcap.com is a searchable database of over $1 trillion in covid-19 cash relief resources available to global small business and nonprofit entrepreneurs. Managed by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
> AIR: Accelerating Investment Readiness Joining Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing for more positive social change. Free #AIRMOOC, launching 25 May, to be held over six weeks.
Reweaving the social fabric after the crisis
Andy Haldane, Chief Economist of the Bank of England, believes that even as other capital has crumbled, the stock of social capital has risen | Financial Times (3 min)
Reimagining capitalism in a world on fire In her new book, Professor Rebecca Henderson, of Harvard Business School, argues capitalism is in danger of destroying itself and calls for systemic change | Penguin Books
> Social business:
Coronavirus forces investor rethink on social issues
Coronavirus has highlighted how companies treat their employees, customers and suppliers during a crisis. Will there be an expectation from society that businesses behave differently in future? | Financial Times (2 min)
Social enterprise, Bureo, makes skateboards, hats and sunglasses from ocean plastic. Image: Bureo
🔊 Listening to:
Gender and covid-19
New York Times journalists discuss the role of gender in coronavirus research with Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women | New York Times podcast (44 min)
Scaling and innovation
If an organisation doesn't know how to learn or scale, innovation isn't the answer to its struggles | Stanford Social Innovation Review podcast (46 min)
📺 Watching:
Fragile states facing covid-19
Discussion hosted by the LSE's Institute of Global Affairs with Oriana Bandiera, Erik Berglof & Adnan Khan | Zoom/Facebook (100 min)
The New Breed- the rise of the social entrepreneur
Feature length documentary tells the stories of three change-making social enterprises using business to tackle social and environmental problems. Free to stream for one week | New Breed (80 min)
🔎 New Research
Who is doing new research during covid-10? Not the female economists The covid-19 crisis has spurred a novel and fast-growing field in economic research. But women are not submitting new work at the same pace as their male counterparts according to data from prominent repositories of working-paper publications in economics. Have the effects of lockdowns on the division of labour at home been particularly detrimental to the research activity of women? | VOX CEPR Policy Portal
11 May: Economics in a pandemic
Masterclass with Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times op-ed columnist | 92Y
12 May: Partnering with purpose to solve the world's biggest challenges
How do you reconcile different assumptions, values, and goals to achieve outcomes that advance the greater good? With Steve Schmida, founder of Resonance, a global development and corporate sustainability consulting firm |Webinar, Moving Worlds
20 May: Impact Summit
This year's virtual event will cover six core themes: work in the time of Covid-19, climate change, tech for good, the future of food and drink, sustainable fashion, and mindfulness & wellbeing | Online
3. Acumen Fellowships
Starting in 2020, the UK Fellows Programme aims to bring together 20 individuals who are tackling social issues – and equip them with the knowledge, skills and community to accelerate and sustain their impact. Fellows will attend week-long residentials and virtual seminars. Applications open until May 31.
Is there anything you would like to see included in this newsletter in future? Send your contributions, suggestions and feedback to marshallinstitute@lse.ac.uk
