Digital Archive....

Socially Responsible Investing & Value Alignment The Business Ethics Blog Socially responsible investing (SRI) is a big topic, and a complex issue, one about which I cannot claim to know a lot. The basic concept is clear enough: when people make investments, they send their money out into the world to work for them. People engaged in SRI are trying to make sure that their money is, in addition to earning them a profit, doing some good in the world, rather than evil. There are a number of kinds of SRI. For example, there are investment funds that use "negative screens" (to filter out harmful industries like tobacco), and there are "positive investment" (in which funds focus on investing in companies that are seen as producing positive social impact). We can also distinguish socially-responsible mutual funds from government-controlled funds, such as pension funds. (For other examples, check out the Wikipedia page on the topic, here .) Se...

Kenya's Mobile & Internet, by the Numbers (Q4 2010) White African If you've been wondering what the numbers look like for Kenya's mobile and ISP space, look no further than the latest CCK Report (Communications Commission of Kenya). It's one of the best documents that I've seen, compiling information that you just can't seem to find anywhere else. Highlights of Q4 2010: There are 22 million mobile subscribers in Kenya 9.5% mobile subscriptions growth, which is increasing over the previous quarters 6.63 billion minutes of local calls were made on the mobile networks 740 million text messages were sent Prepaid accounts for 99% of the total mobile subscriptions The number of internet users was estimated at 8.69 million The number of internet/data subscriptions is 3.2 million Broadband subscriptions increased from 18,626 subscribers in the previous quarter to 84,726 Price Wars Everyone recognizes the impact on SMS and voi...

Thoughts on the Malawi fertiliser subsidy programme Aid Thoughts Late last year, over at Duncan Green's blog, Max Lawson discussed a recent paper by Andrew Dorward and Ephraim Chirwa analyzing and espousing the benefits of the Malawi fertiliser subsidy programme. Having lived and worked in Malawi during the first major expansion of this programme, I've always been a keen follower of the debate around its cost and benefits. I reached out to several colleagues that have, in some way or another, dealt with or studied the programme in the past. This week we'll feature two short pieces which are fairly critical of Dorward and Chirwa's claims and Lawson's interpretation. Many of these posts will be anonymous for the usual reasons. In 2005, Malawi undertook one of the most ambitious drives to develop its agricultural sector witnessed in a generation.  The initiative involves targeting fertiliser and seed inputs using 'smart subsidies', aim...

The Dragon's Gift The Enlightened Economist At last some serious scholarly attention is being paid to the role China is playing in the economies of Africa, getting past the cliches and myths. The Dragon's Gift: The real story of China in Africa by Deborah Brautigam is a detailed, thorough assessment of China's engagement around the continent and the impact of its investments and aid. It should be essential reading for anybody in the western aid community as well as other academics. One of the key insights is that China's policies draw on their own recent experience as a recipient of aid and as a developing country. Chinese policymakers believe that their relationships with African governments can bring mutual benefits, an exchange of economic progress for natural resources, because that has been China's path. Their own economy has moved along a track from shipping coal and minerals abroad to basic manufacturing to higher value activities. Wit...

Triple Bottom Line — the bad idea that just won't die The Business Ethics Blog I just got a bulk e-mail ad for yet another conference on so-called Triple Bottom Line Investing . Triple Bottom Line Investing is just one more incarnation of the more general "Triple Bottom Line" (or 3BL) notion. ( Wayne Norman and I wrote about the 3BL back in the April 2004 issue of Business Ethics Quarterly , pointing out problems with the concept, the lack of academic attention to those problems, and the concept's seemingly inexorable rise in popularity. Since we began tracking usage of the term in 2002, its popularity — based on Google hits — has continuted to grow exponentially.) The "Triple Bottom Line" is roughly the idea that corporations can, and should, measure performance not just according to the good-old-fashioned financial bottom line, but also according to two more "bottom lines," namely the social and environmental bott...