Much effort goes into building markets as a tool for economic and social development, often overlooking that in too many places social exclusion and poverty prevent many, especially women, from participating in and accessing markets. Building on data from rural Bangladesh and analyzing the work of a prominent intermediary organization, we uncover institutional voids as the source of market exclusion and identify two sets of activities – redefining market architecture and legitimating new actors – as critical for building ‘inclusive' markets. We expose voids as ‘analytical spaces' and illustrate how they result from conflict and contradiction among institutional ‘bits and pieces' from local political, community, and religious spheres. Our findings put forward a perspective on market building that highlights the ‘on the ground' dynamics and attends to the ‘institutions at play', to their consequences, and to a more diverse set of ‘inhabitants' of institutions.

Building Inclusive Markets in Rural Bangladesh : How Intermediaries Work Institutional Voids

L’économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) est – de nos jours – un concept très à la mode, mais dont la définition reste floue. Ce d’autant plus que ce concept ne se traduit pas littéralement : en anglais, on parlera plutôt de « third sector », ou de « nonprofit sector », voire de « social and solidarity economy ». Il est également peu aisé de retracer un historique – et donc la provenance – d’un tel concept. Certains auteurs (EFIGIP (2011) n’hésitent pas à faire remonter son origine au XIIIe siècle avec l’apparition de coopératives laitières en Franche-Comté, voire même à la Mésopotamie et à l’Egypte antique – soit jusqu’à -3000 avant J.-C. (Collette (2008), p.10). D’autres (Nogues (2003), p.32) mettent l’accent sur l’apparition du concept de « tiers secteur » dans le discours français au cours des années 1970 ; voire au rapport d’Alain Lipietz « L’entreprise à but social et le tiers secteur », rapport remis au ministre de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité en 2000. L’estimation de l’origine du concept varie également selon que l’on s’intéresse à l’aspect social ou à l’aspect solidaire de l’ESS, comme nous le verrons plus loin.

https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ref/1997-v3-n2-ref1770/026177ar.pdf

Économie sociale et solidaire

Markets not only enable wide technology diffusion but also shape sustainability transitions. From this perspective, it is critical to investigate the shaping effects of markets and market formation processes for human wellbeing and the environment. Through a systematic literature review, this study explores the limitations of the dominant corporate-led market development model. This constitutes the global compass for present-day energy access programs and international development policy, framed around the potential of foreign-affiliated corporate enterprises for the market-based diffusion of solar products in the Global South. Findings suggest that due to tradeoffs between people, planet, and profit-directed goals, the companies cannot enable sustainability transitions and equal and sustainable access to the energy poor. Instead, the corporate-led market development route reproduces structural injustices. A more pluralistic route with greater roles for local, non-affiliated entrepreneurs, non-profits, and the public sector is proposed for negotiating the tradeoffs to the extent possible. 

Limits of the corporate-led market approach to off-grid energy access: A review

Markets not only enable wide technology diffusion but also shape sustainability transitions. From this perspective, it is critical to investigate the shaping effects of markets and market formation processes for human wellbeing and the environment. Through a systematic literature review, this study explores the limitations of the dominant corporate-led market development model. This constitutes the global compass for present-day energy access programs and international development policy, framed around the potential of foreign-affiliated corporate enterprises for the market-based diffusion of solar products in the Global South. Findings suggest that due to tradeoffs between people, planet, and profit-directed goals, the companies cannot enable sustainability transitions and equal and sustainable access to the energy poor. Instead, the corporate-led market development route reproduces structural injustices. A more pluralistic route with greater roles for local, non-affiliated entrepreneurs, non-profits, and the public sector is proposed for negotiating the tradeoffs to the extent possible.

Limits of the Corporate-led Market Approach to Off-grid Energy Access: A review

This study examines how a mission-driven shared identification can help mitigate the failure of a micro-franchise in Rwanda, a bottom of the pyramid market. A single case study was adopted followin...

Micro-Franchising in the Bottom of the Pyramid Market : Rwanda

This study aims to highlight the processes that private organisations implement to improve access to health care services for low-income communities in Brazil.,A qualitative research based on a comparative case study was conducted in Sao Paulo. A for-profit organisation and a not-for-profit one were compared to scrutinise how they adapt themselves to the social context they are embedded in; while improving their service accessibility.,Both kinds of organisations have succeeded to reach their goal of improving the access and reducing the time frame of health care services to low-income populations. Their initial business model (BM) makes them face their own challenges that they face with different strategies. It affects their way of communicating, their organisational culture, the patients’ expectations and their level of inclusiveness.,The research is context-dependent because of the specific conditions of the health public system in Brazil. When shaping health care BMs, the national context must be taken into account and the service marketing components should be used to enhance patients’ value co-creation in the health care service delivery process.,The research gives insights to organisations that seek to adapt their BM to improve health-care access to low-income populations.,Health-care access plays a key role in improving populations’ living conditions and reach one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nation.,Health care services access at the bottom of the pyramid remains under-studied. The paper brings value by comparing for-profit and non-profit organisations, which have the same social goal of improving health-care access to low-income populations while developing different practices to deal with their own challenges.

Improving healthcare services access at the bottom of the pyramid: the role of profit and non-profit organisations in Brazil

Cet article met en avant un acteur clef des strategies Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) mais pourtant peu represente dans la litterature : les Organisations-Non-Gouvernementales (ONG). L’objectif de cette recherche est d’apprehender la maniere dont une ONG peut, au meme titre qu’une FMN, etre initiateur d’une strategie BoP. Pour ce faire, une etude de cas unique a ete menee sur l’ONG Entrepreneurs du Monde (EdM) et son programme d’energie converti en l’entreprise sociale Nafa Naana au Burkina Faso. La strategie BoP mise en place a ete analysee au regard des propositions et du modele « Framework pour un management strategique BoP » formules par Martinet et Payaud (2010) a l’egard des FMN qui souhaitent integrer un marche BoP. Le cas d’EdM nous montre qu’une ONG peut effectivement mener une strategie efficace sur les marches BoP en capitalisant notamment sur son experience des marches BoP et son acceptation aupres des populations locales. Elle peut ainsi creer un ecosysteme benefique a l’ensemble des communautes locales. A l’inverse, ses efforts doivent se concentrer sur l’elaboration d’une politique marketing et commerciale viable, qui peut souffrir d’une trop forte dependance envers ses pratiques ONG. Ces constats confirment les possibles conflits que peuvent rencontrer les organisations de l’Economie Sociale et Solidaire (ESS), et plus particulierement les ONG, entre performance sociale et performance economique. L’adoption d’une identite d’entreprise sociale independante de son incubateur ONG semble offrir une meilleure flexibilite qui beneficie a la gestion entre valeurs economiques et sociales. L’analyse d’un cas d’ONG via le « Framework pour un management strategique BoP » de Martinet et Payaud (2010) initialement concu a l’attention des FMN, permet d’elargir la portee de ce modele aux organisations de l’ESS.

Organisations-Non-Gouvernementales (ONG), initiateurs des stratégies Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP)

Reaching the bottom of the pyramid with a social enterprise model: The case of the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde and its social enterprise Nafa Naana in Burkina Faso

Constance Dumalanède

Papers

Improving healthcare services access at the bottom of the pyramid: the role of profit and non-profit organisations in Brazil

Organisations-Non-Gouvernementales (ONG), initiateurs des stratégies Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP)

Reaching the bottom of the pyramid with a social enterprise model: The case of the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde and its social enterprise Nafa Naana in Burkina Faso