INTEGRATED MEASUREMENT OF SOCIAL INNOVATION

Abstract

The main research question addressed in this work is how social innovations are quantifiable and measurable. An approach has been developed to grasp financial and non-financial aspects as well as direct and indirect outputs, outcomes and impacts. The non-financial aspects can be further divided into personal (physical) attributes, social, cultural, and symbolic facets, as well as external political, ecological, and technological frame conditions. The deliverable is an integrated performance measurement approach for social innovations. From a methodological point of view, the results are based on extensive literature research and qualitative empirical work. The concept could be prevalidated together with different existing social innovations in Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. To illustrate the theoretical concept, the article describes three existing social innovations (in Switzerland and Austria) and applies the concept to them. The concept can be applied to other social innovations, but has to be adapted individually.