Impact measurement for social banking: The case of Banca Etica

The aim of this thesis is to propose a methodology for measuring the impact of social banks. Impact measurement is an issue strongly debated in the current literature. This work contributes to the discussion by focusing on the case of social banking. Social banking is defined as using finance as a tool for social and ecological change. Impact measurement for social banks presents some specific peculiarities that are not taken into account by the current impact measurement methodologies, like the SROI and the GIIRS. Impact measurement is fundamental for social banks for two reasons: accountability and internal control. At this moment, a commonly accepted methodology for measuring impact for social banks does not exist. Literature about this issue is very limited and at its first stages. Practitioners’ methodologies do not consider some fundamental aspects for impact measurement, like deadweight and attribution issues. Given these premises, the research methodology of this thesis is a qualitative case analysis, specifically the methodology proposed by Carson et al. (2001). I selected the case of Banca Etica, an Italian social bank belonging to the most important networks of social banks. The main contribution of this work is a comprehensive and consistent methodology for impact measurement for social banking. Specifically, the author was able to identify and test a set of indicators among the ones currently proposed by the literature for several impact areas. The proposed impact measurement methodology consists of tools that can be used for both accountability and internal control aims. Moreover, the methodology takes into account the issues of deadweight and attribution, addressing a lack in the literature. Finally, this methodology is a useful tool for tackling some strategic goals for social banks like impact creation, credit access and influence on the economic system. It can also be used for mitigating credit risk and for credit planning.