Preliminary Conference Programme

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a pathway to economic empowerment for individuals at the base of the pyramid in the Global South. Yet deeply embedded gender norms, poverty, and social stratification often limit access of such individuals to networks that could facilitate their entry into entrepreneurship. Existing research on entrepreneurial networking shows that aspiring entrepreneurs can strategically structure their networks. However, this work has been developed mainly in contexts where individuals have both entrepreneurial aspirations and the opportunity and discretion to initiate new ties. We extend this research to contexts where these conditions do not hold. Specifically, we examine how community-based organizations (CBOs) can reconfigure the networks of individuals at the base of the pyramid and thereby influence their likelihood of entering entrepreneurship. In the empirical context of self-help groups (SHGs) in rural India, we show that participation in CBOs is associated with expansion of participants’ networks to include more entrepreneurship-relevant contacts and with their subsequent entry into entrepreneurship. Importantly, disaggregating the composition of networks orchestrated by CBOs reveals that access to role-model contacts are more relevant than instrumental contacts who provide resources. Our findings have important implications for designing interventions that can foster entrepreneurship in the Global South.

Mobilizing private capital at scale is critical for financing sustainable development, particularly in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), where capital is most needed. We conduct a global survey of senior investment decision-makers across a broad spectrum of capital providers, including asset managers, pension and sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, philanthropic investors, and others. The survey provides novel evidence on investors’ risk-return expectations, risk perceptions, and investment practices in EMDEs and in blended finance structures. We document four main findings. First, conditional on investor type, return expectations in EMDEs are comparable to those in developed markets, suggesting that categorical exclusions of EMDE assets might be inefficient. Second, investors’ dominant risk perceptions—particularly currency and political risks—are poorly aligned with the de-risking tools commonly employed in blended finance. Third, prevailing approaches to evaluating blended finance rely on both input- and outcome-based metrics, yet with limited measurement of financial and impact additionality. Fourth, our results highlight organizational and informational frictions, rather than unattractive financial fundamentals, as key barriers to scaling sustainable investing in EMDEs.

Nearly 50% of packaged products rely on palm oil and many companies across the supply network depend on this raw material. Because palm oil production takes place largely in Southeast Asia with sensitive ecosystems and low-income communities, practices around palm oil represent a source of operational, legal, and reputational risk. To mitigate harmful practices, companies can rely on grievance mechanisms. Increasingly, grievance mechanisms are seen not just as a reactive process but as a tool to improve social and environmental practices. Prior work has shown how individual companies implement bridging and buffering processes to reduce risks along supply networks. However, little is known about what role power dynamics play across the supply network to foster sustainable practices beyond harm reduction. Through a qualitative study, this paper identifies micro-processes of how grievance claims are raised, addressed, and resolved with a path towards degenerative, harm reducing, and regenerative outcomes. The findings show that regenerative outcomes are possible when buyers have sufficient power; by contrast, when suppliers are dominant or business partners act independently, degenerative outcomes prevail.