Positive Social Value Research Articles

57 Nature based social prescribing for enhancing mental health and well-being

Abstract Objectives Nature Based Social Prescribing (NBSP) is a means of connecting people with non-clinical, nature-based community-led interventions delivered by 3rd sector organisations using local community assets. This research used a mixed-method Social Return on Investment (SROI) of a six-month pilot ‘Making Well’ NBSP programme to support individuals with chronic mental health conditions in Wales. Methods The ‘Making Well’ programme costs were estimated by means of SROI along projected 20% overheads, were incorporated to reflect sustainable costs as the charity develops and more accurately estimate the future social value expected to be generated. The ‘Making Well’ project delivered two separate programmes between October 2021 and April 2022. Data was collected from participants (n = 12) at baseline and eight-week follow-up along with interviews to collect in-depth data on individuals lived experience of participating in the programme. The ‘Making Well’ programme costs were estimated and financial proxies from the HACT Social Value (SV) bank were applied to identified benefits. Results The estimated cost of ‘Making Well’ programme inputs were £1,312 per participant and the net value of well-being benefits were £4,313 to £6,130 per participant, giving a range of SVR’s between £3.30 to £4.70 for every £1 invested in this NBSP intervention. The SROI forecast provides a three-year projection of the annual social value created and the estimated forecast cost of programme inputs was £797 per participant. The net value of well-being benefits was £4,313 to £6,130 per participant, giving a range of social value ratios between £5.40 to £7.70 for every £1 invested. Conclusions The SROI results demonstrate that the ‘Making Well’ programme is an effective NBSP intervention for supporting people with enduring mild to moderate mental health conditions. This SROI contributes to emerging evidence on the use of community assets and NBSP in generating a return on investment and positive social value. SROI forecasting for socially prescribed interventions delivered by local community assets, such as The Fathom Trust, can help organisations demonstrate transparent and effective investment of public funds and support optimal future social value creation and long-term public health outcomes.

Fan Culture: Emotional Construction, Fan Economy and Data War

With the popularity of idol talent shows, fan culture has developed rapidly in recent years. This study understands the fan culture in Youth with You 3 from the three perspectives of emotional construction, fan economy and data war, explains the reasons for the formation of the fan community, takes the "milk pouring incident" as an example to explore the consumer psychology and emotional expression behind the fan economy, and analyses how the market guides fans to carry out unrewarded data labour. The vicious competition in the idol market is becoming more and more fierce. After the "hot draft", it is necessary to "think coldly", so that the fan culture can play a positive social value.

Modeling Residents’ Mega Sport Event Social Value: Integrating Social and Economic Mechanisms

Social value is the difference between monetized social impacts and related economic investments. Stimulating positive social value is a leading concern and focus for sport event stakeholders. However, insights on this socioeconomic phenomenon have concentrated on social or economic mechanisms, not both, and are siloed to host city residents, largely overlooking nonhost city residents central to events. Thus, we integrated social and economic mechanisms to examine host city and nonhost city residents’ mega sport event social value. Data from 1,880 Canadians revealed varying social values (Vancouver and Provincial = negative; Venue-City = neutral; National = positive). Applying a reverse contingent valuation method, findings confirmed the need to integrate (monetized) social and economic mechanisms to calculate social value. Testing an augmented social exchange theory model, findings highlight residents’ perceptual ambivalence to social impacts and the importance of income to estimate social value. Stakeholders should effectively leverage events for social impacts and reconsider event public funding allocation policies.

Breaking the Mold: HRD and Social Entrepreneurship – A Recipe for Progress

Social entrepreneurship practices integrate aspects from the private, public, and non-profit sectors into a cohesive practice. This paper advocates for the integration of human resource development (HRD) research and practices into social entrepreneurship initiatives to drive progress and build effective organizations committed to positive social change and value creation. By exploring HRD insights on ethical organizational strategies, initiatives for workforce development, and their impact on employee engagement and attitudes, we contend that HRD professionals can significantly contribute to the success of social entrepreneurship.

Analysis of the Chinese government's subsidy programs to restore the pork supply chain: The case of African swine fever

Since African swine fever (ASF) was first detected in China in August 2018, it has killed more than one million pigs and caused pork prices to skyrocket. To address this, the Chinese government offers two farm subsidies: (i) the compulsory culling subsidy (CCS), which cushions losses from new outbreaks by compensating for pigs culled due to ASF, and (ii) the large-scale breeding subsidy (LBS), which maintains or increases farms’ breeding scales (BSs) by requiring a minimum BS. We develop a game-theoretic model to capture the underlying dynamics between the government and farms. In particular, farms have different production capacities and must decide their BSs under yield uncertainty due to possible new outbreaks. We analyze the optimal design of subsidy programs with an earmarked budget to maximize social welfare, and we examine the impacts on different stakeholders. Our analysis reveals several insights. First, the government should offer the CCS only if the budget is very constrained; otherwise, it should simultaneously offer the two subsidies and prioritize compensating farm losses by providing a good CCS. Second, the optimal subsidy programs can increase consumer surplus regardless of the budget, and programs with a small or large budget can make all farms better off. However, small- and moderate-scale farms (that do not enroll in the LBS) will be worse off under these programs with a moderate budget. Third, the optimal subsidy programs can create positive net social value that is nondecreasing in the budget; hence, a win-win-win situation can be achieved by establishing a sufficiently large budget for these programs. Finally, we calibrate our model using Chinese pig industry data and provide further insights into ASF subsidy programs.

Social Return on Investment of Nature-Based Activities for Adults with Mental Wellbeing Challenges.

Increased time spent in nature can enhance physical health and mental wellbeing. The UK Government's '25 Year Environment Plan' recommends extending the health benefits of contact with nature to a wider group of people, including those with mental health challenges. This study investigated whether nature-based interventions (NBIs) for people with mild mental health challenges could generate a positive social return on investment (SROI). Between May 2017 and January 2019, 120 participants at six outdoor sites in Wales participated in a 6 to 12-week NBI, which consisted of a weekly 2- to 4-h session. Quantitative data were collected from baseline and follow-up questionnaires identifying participant demographics and measuring mental wellbeing, physical activity, self-efficacy, and social trust. Wellbeing valuation generated a range of social value ratios by applying the Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT) Social Value Calculator (SVC 4.0) and HACT Mental Health Social Value Calculator (MHSVC 1.0). Seventy-four participants (62%) completed follow-up questionnaires at 6 months. SROI ratios were calculated using the SVC for physical activity, self-efficacy, and social trust. The MHSVC generated social value ratios for mental wellbeing. The base case results revealed a positive social value ratio for participants, ranging from British Pound Sterling (GBP) 2.57 to GBP 4.67 for every GBP 1 invested, indicating favourable outcomes in terms of value generated.

Opening industry data: The private sector’s role in addressing societal challenges

Abstract This commentary explores the potential of private companies to advance scientific progress and solve social challenges through opening and sharing their data. Open data can accelerate scientific discoveries, foster collaboration, and promote long-term business success. However, concerns regarding data privacy and security can hinder data sharing. Companies have options to mitigate the challenges through developing data governance mechanisms, collaborating with stakeholders, communicating the benefits, and creating incentives for data sharing, among others. Ultimately, open data has immense potential to drive positive social impact and business value, and companies can explore solutions for their specific circumstances and tailor them to their specific needs.

Cultivation of solidarity and soft power: Ukrainian President Zelensky’s 2022 speech to Japan

Words not only describe the world but also influence the world or modify relationships (Austin, 1965; Pinker et al,, 2008). Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has presented his competence in influencing or even shaping diplomatic relationships through his words and utterances. This study explores the ways in which he has been successful as a strategic speaker (Lee & Pinker, 2010), establishing solidarity with Japan using the soft power introduced by Nye (2004, 2011). By closely examining his 12-minute online speech at the Japanese parliament in March 2022, it investigates the extent to which his speech has exerted influence on the Japanese people as well as on the two countries’ relationship. As for methodology, the data of an English-translated script were analyzed by adopting politeness theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987), which stems from the concept of “face” (Goffman, 1967), a positive social value in social interaction. Specifically, all of President Zelensky’s utterances were evaluated by three factors that account for politeness strategies – relative power, social distance, and weight of imposition. Based on this analysis and the responses in Japan, this study argues that his speech adopted not only face-threatening but also face-boosting effects (Bayraktaroğlu, 1991), building common ground as an affiliation strategy and generating solidarity and soft power. This study concludes that President Zelensky’s speech to Japan contributes to consolidating solidarity in Japanese minds and soft power, which have encouraged the Japanese government and its citizens to continue supporting Ukraine financially, psychologically, and diplomatically.

The Novel and the New Ethics by Dorothy J. Hale

Reviewed by: The Novel and the New Ethics by Dorothy J. Hale Jesse Rosenthal HALE, DOROTHY J. The Novel and the New Ethics. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2020. 360 pp. $90.00 hardcover; $30.00 softcover. Novel theory is well past the point where declaring an “ethical turn” would raise many eyebrows. The last two decades or so have proven particularly accommodating to critics who wish to assert the presence of some variation of ethical thought in the formal working of the traditional novel. Part of the compromise of the turn back to ethics has lain in stressing the formal nature of it all: as if to say, we’re not just looking at old-fashioned morals or narratorial lectures. What makes Dorothy J. Hale’s The Novel and the New Ethics different is that its analysis does assume design and intention from the start. Looking specifically at novelists who are directly concerned with the academic study of literature—Toni Morrison, Zadie Smith, and J. M. Coetzee, among others— Hale short-circuits the divide between literary production and analysis. In the works of her authors she locates a set of varied ethical projects that share an awareness of the poststructuralist critique of the individual subject. These critiques, and the related attack on a hoary novelistic ethics based around a stable central subject, succeed for Hale in producing a “new ethics”—one which takes the central human subject not as a given, but as a question. This new ethics moves away from one based on coherent subjectivity: the experiences of other intelligences and points of view. In place of this by-now familiar alterity, it finds instead more modern forms, which include experiences outside of the human: “the lives of animals, states of divinity, or even the nature of fiction” (6). The Novel and the New Ethics continues the project of Hale’s extraordinary 1998 Social Formalism, which charted the ethical stakes of novel form from Henry James through poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and race theory. The argument of that book— one which seems to be every bit as indisputable as it was twenty-five years ago—was that the Jamesian model of novel theory, centered around the figure of the author, cast such a large and inescapable shadow that it would be felt in criticism for a century to come. And in spite of the novelty of the ethical approaches The Novel and the New Ethics describes, it quickly becomes clear that the point of departure has not changed. As Hale puts it, “The novelist who most inspires and authorizes this tradition within the Anglo-American context is Henry James” (25). So we are still looking at the same strong influence, and, just as in Social Formalism, this influence persists whether or not we know it: [E]ven if no one thinks they give a damn about what Henry James knew, the modern novel that James helped to invent and the tradition of novel theory that he inaugurated provide a foundational aesthetics for the novel that underlies [both ethics of alterity and] the poststructuralist new ethical theory that has [End Page 450] developed in the attempt to articulate the positive social value of literature for our postmodern age. (181) In this way, Hale’s work extends her previous argument about the Jamesian tradition into a twenty-first century that might seem to have little to do with him. Where this book parts company with Social Formalism, though, is in its shift of focus from the history of academic novel theory to what Hale refers to as “novelist-critics”: modern novelists who are in explicit conversation with academic criticism (89). Foremost among these are Morrison, Smith, and Coetzee. Though Hale is interested in the intersection between theory and practice in these authors, it often seems that theory is dominant. When she discusses Morrison, she does so in the context of Morrison’s writing on James and William Faulkner; when she turns to Smith, it is in her invocation of Elaine Scarry; and in writing on Coetzee, an academic himself, she focuses on his Elizabeth Costello—a novel that draws centrally on a novelist’s relation with academia. The Novel and the New Ethics...

Information sharing and sales format strategy under platform economy and cap-and-trade

We develop a low-carbon supply chain including an online retail platform and a manufacturer, taking into account cap-and-trade mechanism. The online retail platform withholding the forecasting demand information chooses whether to share it or not and chooses the reseller format or the agency sales format. The manufacturer produces the low-carbon product and decides the carbon emission reduction level. Therefore, we establish two scenarios (non-information sharing; information sharing) in the reseller format model and the agency sales format model, respectively. Firstly, we derive the members’ equilibrium decisions and explore the online retail platform’s information sharing strategy. We find that the carbon emission reduction efficiency and sales format play important roles in information sharing strategy. Then, we examine the effects of information sharing strategy on carbon emission, consumer surplus, and social welfare. We find that sharing information is always beneficial to the environment, and may create more positive social value. Finally, we investigate sales format strategy and find that it depends on the carbon emission reduction cost.

Maximal sensitivity under Strong Anonymity

This paper re-examines the incompatibility of Strong Pareto, as an axiom of sensitivity, and Strong Anonymity, as an axiom of impartiality, when comparing well-being profiles with a countably infinite number of components. We ask how far the Paretian principle can be extended without contradicting Strong Anonymity. We show that Strong Anonymity combined with four auxiliary axioms has two consequences: (i) There is sensitivity for an increase in one well-being component if and only if a co-finite set of other well-being components are at least ɛ (>0) higher, and (ii) adding people to an infinite population cannot have positive social value.

A Social Return on Investment Evaluation of the Pilot Social Prescribing EmotionMind Dynamic Coaching Programme to Improve Mental Wellbeing and Self-Confidence.

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to longer waiting lists for people seeking to access mental health services. The NHS Five Year Forward View encourages the development of empowerment-based social prescribing interventions to supplement existing mental health programmes. Based in South Wales, EmotionMind Dynamic (EMD) is a lifestyle coaching programme that supports individuals suffering from anxiety or depression. In this evaluation of lifestyle coaching, a mixed-method social return on investment (SROI) methodology was used to value quantitative and qualitative data from face-to-face and online participants. Data collection took place between June 2021 and January 2022. Participants included both self-referred clients and those referred from health services. Mental wellbeing data were collected at baseline and at the end of the programme using the short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). Baseline and follow-up data were available for 15 face-to-face participants and 17 online clients. Wellbeing valuation quantified and valued outcomes from participants. Results indicated that for every GBP 1 invested, lifestyle coaching generated social values ranging from GBP 4.12–GBP 7.08 for face-to-face clients compared with GBP 2.37–GBP 3.35 for online participants. Overall, lifestyle coaching generated positive social value ratios for both face-to-face and online clients.

Sustainable innovation for shared mobility: contextual and consumer factors of an Indian car subscription business model

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the nature and scale of the sustainability value of car sharing and to identify, through consumer analysis, the contextual and consumer factors of success of car subscription as a business model.Design/methodology/approachThe study evaluates the car sharing model against the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations in 2019. Individual interviews were performed for preliminary understanding of the factors affecting consumers' choices. Subsequently, through two phases of data collection, factor analysis and path model analysis were performed to identify and confirm latent factors. Consumer market segmentation was performed using cluster analysis.FindingsCar sharing was found to have an overall positive net impact, with certain potential negative dimensions. Willingness, financial affordability, location and experience were identified as the key factors of consumers opting for car subscriptions. The findings further highlight the significant business potentialities of car subscription in India, consequent also to consumers' attitudes toward car ownership.Practical implicationsThe research has substantial implications for both society and business, with the former being presented with an innovative sustainable means of transportation, and the latter with the elements of success of an entrepreneurial business model to support the former.Originality/valueThe study is a pioneer in objectively evaluating and prescribing positive social and business value creation for and through car subscription in India, based on consumer analysis.

A Social Return on Investment evaluation of the Emotion-Mind Dynamic (EMD) two phase social prescribing life coaching intervention to support mental health and wellbeing.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has created excess weighting lists to access Mental Health Services in the UK (Stats Wales, 2021). It is important to find effective solutions to alleviate the pressures that Mental Health services experience. The NHS Five Year Forward View encourages the development of new social prescribing empowerment-based interventions to supplement existing mental health programmes (Mental Health Taskforce, 2016). The EmotionMind Dynamic (EMD) is a lifestyle coaching programme that supports individuals suffering from anxiety or depression referred from the health and social care sectors. EMD offers a unique, non-clinical mixed-modality approach combining coaching, mentoring, counselling skills, teaching and mindfulness.
 MethodsSocial Return On Investment (SROI) methodology is applied to evaluate the EMD service. The aim of the SROI analysis is to develop a programme-level theory of change to establish how inputs (e.g. costs, staffing) are converted into outputs (e.g. numbers of clients seen), and subsequently into outcomes that matter to clients impacted by EMD service (e.g. improved mental wellbeing). Wellbeing valuation will quantify and value outcomes using two value sets. The SROI mixed-method approach collects quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews with former face-to-face EMD clients as well a new clients, undertaking the online blended learning programme.
 FindingsInitial results indicate that the social prescribing face-to-face EMD programme generated positive social value ratios ranging from £9 to £23 for every £1 invested. In addition, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) which measures participant’s self-reported self-efficacy and confidence indicated that the face-to-face EMD participants experienced improved mental wellbeing and resilience as a result of participating in the EMD lifestyle coaching programme. Sensitivity analyses was conducted with Social Value Bank (SVB) figures for improved confidence and confirmed assumptions that former EMD clients experienced positive mental wellbeing improvements as a result of undertaking the lifestyle coaching programme.
 ConclusionsThis is the first study to undertake an SROI analysis of a social prescribing lifestyle coaching programme aimed at improving mental wellbeing and resilience. Phase one of this novel SROI study of the face-to-face EMD clients indicates that the EMD lifestyle coaching programme has the potential to generate positive social value ratios. Phase two analysis of the online EMD blended learning programme will compare the effectiveness of the two lifestyle coaching formats: face to face and the online blended format to improve mental wellbeing and self-efficacy by participating in this innovative lifestyle coaching programme.

주류광고 노출이 음주문제수준 미치는 영향 : 긍정적 음주기대, 음주의 사회적 가치의 이중매개효과

Objectives: This study examined the dual mediating effects of positive alcohol expectancy and the social value of drinking between alcohol advertising exposures and drinking problems. Methods: The survey was conducted on 1,057 adult men and women aged 20 to 65 years, recruited by an online survey Participants for this study were 961 men and women. Results: It is found that Women had higher exposure experience alcohol advertising than men and men had higher positive alcohol expectancy, social value of drinking and drinking problems. In addition, alcohol advertising exposures have positive effects on drinking problems. Also, Positive alcohol expectancy and social value of drinking partially mediate the effects of alcohol advertising exposure, and drinking problems. Conclusions: In order to prevent drinking problems, the social environment that causes drinking problems should be tightened by regulations about alcohol advertising exposures. Based on these results, this study discusses what needs intervention, not only personal perception but also the social environment and regulations about alcohol advertising.

Patent Screening, Innovation, and Welfare

Abstract Critics claim that patent screening is ineffective, granting low-quality patents that impose unnecessary social costs. We develop an integrated framework, involving patent office examination, fees, and endogenous validity challenges in the courts, to study patent screening both theoretically and quantitatively. In our model, some inventions require the patent incentive while others do not, and asymmetric information creates a need for screening. We show that the endogeneity of challenges implies that courts, even if perfect, cannot solve the screening problem. Simulations of the model, calibrated on U.S. data, indicate that screening is highly imperfect, with almost half of all patents issued on inventions that do not require the patent incentive. While we find that the current patent system generates positive social value, intensifying examination would yield large welfare gains. The social value of the patent system would also be larger if complemented by antitrust limits on licensing.

Implicit Voice Delivery: Its Antecedents, Consequences, and Boundary Conditions

ABSTRACTAlthough many organizations encourage employees to voice, employees may be reluctant to voice directly because they are afraid that their supervisors will perceive it as challenging their face (i.e., the positive image or social value of an individual). Alternatively, employees could deliver improvements or express concerns to their supervisors using indirect and implicit approaches, which we refer to as ‘implicit voice delivery’. Applying face theory, we examine the antecedents and outcomes as well as two boundary conditions of implicit voice delivery in organizations with two studies. In Study 1, we define the construct and develop a measure of implicit voice delivery. In Study 2, we test our proposed model with supervisor-subordinate dyadic data from a time-lagged survey. Results demonstrate that concern for other people's face drives employees to express their voices implicitly and that this relationship is stronger when supervisors’ concern for their own face is high rather than low. In addition, implicit voice delivery is associated with supervisors’ favorable response in terms of voice endorsement. Furthermore, the effect on voice endorsement is stronger when the supervisor is more able to infer meaning from implicit messages. Theoretical contribution and managerial implications are discussed.

The value of digital archive film history: willingness to pay for film online heritage archival access.

With the passage of time, celluloid film degrades and valuable film history is lost, resulting in loss of cultural history which contributes to the shared sense of community, identify, and place at a local and national level. Despite the growth in digitised services for accessing cultural resources, to date no economic valuation has been performed on digital local history resources which are accessible online. Despite the recent emergence of online portals for digital cultural services in many countries (such as virtual tours of art galleries and digitisation of cultural archives) a shift which has accelerated in response to the Covid-19 epidemic, there remains a major literature gap around the value of digital culture. Failure to account for the value of digital archives risks sub-optimal allocation of resources to accessing and preserving these aspects of local cultural history. In response, we performed the first contingent valuation study to estimate willingness to pay for a free online film archive portal containing historical film footage for localities throughout the United Kingdom. Users were willing to pay an average hypothetical subscription for digital archive film services of £38.52/annum. Non-users in the general population were asked their willingness to pay a hypothetical annual donation to maintain free public access (£4.68/annum on average). The results suggest that positive social value is gained from online access to digital archive film, and from knowing that the cultural heritage continues to be digitally accessible by the public for current and future generations. We outline how this evidence aligns with a theoretical framework of use and non-use value for digital goods and services extending beyond those who currently use the portal, to those introduced to it, and those in the general public who have never directly experienced the online archive service. We also report what we believe is the first application of Subjective Wellbeing analysis to engagement with a digital cultural service. The advantage of applying methods from economics to value cultural activities in monetary terms is that it makes emerging modes of digital cultural goods and services commensurable with other costs and benefits as applied to cultural policy and investment decisions, putting it on a level footing with physical cultural assets.

Taking offense: An emotion reconsidered

Taking offense: An emotion reconsidered

A Social-Return-On-Investment Analysis Of Bon Secours Hospital's 'Housing For Health' Affordable Housing Program.

Community health programs aimed at addressing the social determinants of health often face challenges demonstrating their impact through traditional economic evaluation methods of return-on-investment analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, or cost-benefit analysis. Using a social-return-on-investment (SROI) analysis, we evaluated the broader social, environmental, and economic benefits of Bon Secours Hospital's Housing for Health program, an affordable housing program aimed at addressing the social and environmental determinants affecting its community's health in Baltimore, Maryland. Bon Secours currently has 801 units of affordable housing across twelve properties in West Baltimore. Results indicate the significant social value of the Bon Secours affordable housing program, generating between $1.30 and $1.92 of social return in the community for every dollar in yearly operating costs. These findings suggest that broader access to affordable housing could produce a positive social value and demonstrate the relevance of SROI for quantifying the impacts of community health programs.