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Blended Value

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
International Encyclopedia of Civil Society

  • 118 Accesses

Definition

First introduced in 2000 (Emerson, Harvard Social Enterprise Series 2000), Blended Value is a theory of both capital and organizational value creation which posits that value itself is whole and non-divisible. Within a Blended Value framework, all value is understood as being generated (by organizations and the application of capital) through the interaction over time of three primary value components: social, economic, and environmental, which together comprise organizational value creation and capital returns. (Emerson 2000–2003).

Introduction

We live in a bifurcated world that asks us to choose between doing well or doing good, making an investment or a grant, and working for a nonprofit/NGO or working for a for-profit. We are taught that there are trade-offs between the creation of social/environmental and economic components of value creation. Yet, most would acknowledge for-profit firms create both economic and social/economic value and NGOs create social conditions of...

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References

  • Emerson, J. (2000). The nature of returns: A social capital markets inquiry into the elements of investment and the blended value proposition. Harvard Business School working paper, Social enterprise series no. 17.

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  • Emerson, J. (2000–2003). Blended value framework: Papers may be found at www.blendedvalue.org

  • Emerson, J. (2002, January). A capital idea: Total foundation asset management and the unified investment strategy. Stanford Business School, Research paper no. 1786.

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  • Emerson, J. (2003a). The blended value proposition: Integrating social and financial returns. California Management Review, 45(4). Summer.

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  • Emerson, J. (2003b). Unified investment strategy. Where money meets mission: Breaking down the firewall between foundation investments and programming. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 1(2), Summer.

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  • Emerson, J., & Bonini, S. (2003). The blended value map: Tracking the intersects and opportunities of economic, environmental and social value creation. Hewlett Foundation, October.

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  • Emerson, J., Spitzer, J., & Mulhair, G. (2006). Blended value investing: Capital investment opportunities for social and environmental impact. World Economic Forum ref. paper no. 270306, March.

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  • Hart, S. (2010). Capitalism at the crossroads: Next generation business strategies for a post-crisis world. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

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  • Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89(1/2), 62–77.

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  • Spitzer, J., Emerson, J., & Harold, J. (2007). Blended value investing: Innovations in real estate. Oxford University, Said Business School, ISBN: 978-1-905551-56-9, Fall.

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  • Visser, W., & Kymal, C. (2014). Creating integrated value: Beyond CSR and CSV to CIV. Kaleidoscope Futures paper series, no. 3.

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Further Reading

  • Bugg-Levine, A., & Emerson, J. (2011). Impact investing: Transforming how we make money while making a difference. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

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  • Emerson, J. (Ed.). (2017). The Impact Assets handbook for investors: Generating social and environmental value through capital investing. London: Anthem.

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  • Emerson, J. (2019). The purpose of capital: Elements of impact, financial flows and natural being. San Francisco: Blended Value Press.

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  • Nicholls, A., Paton, R., & Emerson, J. (Eds.). (2015). Social finance. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blended Value Group, Granby, CO, USA

    Jed Emerson

Authors
  1. Jed Emerson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jed Emerson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Regina A. List

  2. Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Helmut K. Anheier

  3. Schar school, George Mason University, ARLINGTON, VI, USA

    Stefan Toepler

Section Editor information

  1. Hamburg, Germany

    Regina A. List

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Emerson, J. (2020). Blended Value. In: List, R., Anheier, H., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99675-2_67-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99675-2_67-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99675-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99675-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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