Foreword
The OECD has been working for over two decades on policies for the social and solidarity economy (SSE), including in collaboration with the European Union. In 2020, the OECD launched the Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership Instrument, to support its development and internationalisation. The Action has focused on two critical policy levers that can help unlock the potential of the social and solidarity economy, namely legal frameworks and social impact measurement, in addition to other drivers of a strong policy ecosystem. The Action has brought together international peer learning partnerships to share good practices, produce international statistics, and take a deep dive on particular themes (e.g., internationalisation and social procurement) as well as particular groups (such as youth leading social enterprises, women and refugees). Countries targeted by the Action include all EU member states and six non-EU countries (Brazil, Canada, India, Korea, Mexico, the United States).
To foster its growth and scale its impact, more and better data is needed on the activities and impact of the social and solidarity economy. The SSE addresses diverse societal needs such as community well-being, advancing on social inclusion, supporting work integration of disadvantaged individuals, and can contribute to a just green and digital transition. The very intricate nature of such objectives requires tailored ways to assess and present progress concisely and clearly. Building such an evidence-base serves to help individual social and solidarity economy entities in their daily work, as well as to design better policies and benchmark progress. Impact measurement approaches that are co-designed and co-implemented with representatives of the SSE are more likely to be used and achieve new results.
This guide provides policy makers with a full range of initiatives to support social impact measurement for the SSE in the form of practical guidance, success factors and pitfalls to avoid, supported by good practice examples from around the world.
This policy guide was developed by the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), as part of the Programme of Work and Budget of the OECD Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme. It was approved by the LEED Directing Committee on 23 February 2023 via written procedure.