Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf Social Economy Centre University of Toronto Fifth Annual ANSER Conference

1. From Grameen Bank micro-credit to social business to social economy- A case study proposal: compare and contrast Bangladesh and Canada. Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf Social Economy Centre University of Toronto Fifth Annual ANSER Conference Sir Wilfrid Laurier University & University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. May 29 - June 1, 2012.

2. Objectives of the study To study different micro-credit organizations, social businesses initiatives in these two countries To explore their different frameworks, operational structures, funding models, governance and their pros and coins To explore possibilities private sectors , public sectors and charities blended social economic organizations To identify their expanding trend, their scope, contributions, future possibilities, barriers and limitations

3. Benefits of the Study Could help Canada and Bangladesh to gain insight into new ideas, policies, and lessons in order to improve initiatives in both countries Assist to learn SEOs different legal structures, funding models, operational strategies, governance and their pros and coins Could help Canadian and Bangladeshi social entrepreneurs, and the private sector and public sector leaders to get different ideas from the study Identified different Entrepreneurships initiatives and development in Canada and Bangladesh. SEOs have a “triple bottom line” missions and services to communities

4. Study questions/objectives What are the different micro-credit models exist Bangladesh and Canada? Why are micro-credit programs very popular in Bangladesh, why not in Canada? How do social economic business organizations (SEBOs) form, function and governance in Bangladesh and Canada? How can individuals prepare themselves to participate in the field of social entrepreneurship? How could non-profit sector reorient itself? What are challenges (SEBOs) facing to run the organizations and What are the means need to achieve financial sustainability of the organizations?

5. Neo liberalism 1970s ? Institutional reconfiguration & discipline Fiscal Restraint amid unlimited Competition Financialization “flexibility”/private-sector setting bar Workplace intensification/union-busting Corporate/high-income earning tax cuts New subsidies to capital Consumption taxes/user-fees Market provision/inflation targeting (Everything solve by market) Privatization/individualism Free trade agreements 40,000 public workers eliminated, $28 billion cut over next 4 years Economic inequality greatest in our human history

7. Statistics Two-thirds of US income gains between 2002- 2007 went to top 1% 1% households control more wealth than bottom 90% in the world 2% households are above $250,000 in USA and Canada Bottom 90% of us earning less in real dollars than in 1973 One rule economy favors large corporations power over citizen’s power In 1990s financial industries grew so fast By 2000s corporate profits jumped to 40% Iraq war costs a $3 trillion Half a trillion dollars on advertising, $70 dollars for every human No Keynesian welfare economy Increased invisible hands of selfishness Create social distance and robbed local economy

8. continue Cooperatives provide 20% more jobs worldwide than do multinational Corporations 90% of Indians work in the informal economy (IE) In Latin America, IE created 85% of the jobs in 1990s Brazil in just six years (2001-2007) cut poverty by 25% to 40% Vietnam cut its poverty rate from 58% to 16% in less than two decades using public investments in jobs Bangladesh cut its poverty rate from 74% to 34% contributed by MFIs and NGOs Reduced poverty 9.4% 2003-2008

9. Toronto Metro Statistics (June 06, 2012) Canada’s highest salary earners work in finance, despite being the target of occupy protesters 1% need to make income at least $452,887 /yr. Among them 10% richest work in the financial industry, the rest are doctors, dentists and corporate managers $275,000 income in the top 1% are bankers and stock brokers Top 1% control 14% of total income , which was 8% in the 1970s. 82.5% are male among top 1% income group Average income $36,000 for the other 99% 58% have bachelor's degrees vs 19% of the total population 52% of them work at least 50 hours a week compare to 20% of the rest of the population

10. Social Economy as a subject in Canada and in Bangladesh Many researchers named the concept differently SE is popular in Canada; Bangladesh is familiar with social business Social business organizations-cooperatives, nonprofit agencies, social enterprises and community economic development organizations, etc. Different (SEBOs) have diverse Funding models Legal structure Functional frameworks Operational strategies and Faces challenges

11. Diagram: the intersections of the private sector, public sector and social-economic organizations three areas.

12. Methodology of the Study Compare and contrast Canadian SEOs with Bangladeshi SEOs Review Social economy literature Visit different SEOs. In-depth case studies of SEOs in Bangladesh and in Canada In Bangladesh Community micro-financing institutions-Grameen Bank/BRAC/ASA; Social businesses-Grameen Health, GrameenDanone, and Grameen Veolia Water In Canada Ottawa Community Loan Funds, Alterna Credit Unions, and Canadian Cooperative Associations (CCA) and other small cooperatives Visit the SEOs, collect their brochures, organizational memorandum of incorporations, annual reports, articles and books Process collected data and review their information Write a research paper.

13. Concept of social economy Social economy is a bridging concept for organizations that have both social and economic objectives Blending social, economic and environmental missions for the wellbeing of humanity and social development Some renamed it ‘Third Sector’ Not-for-profits/NGOS, civil societies, non-profit organizations (NPOs), self-help groups, Solidarity Economic etc.

14. Canadian social economy organizations In Canada There were 5,753 non-financial co-operatives, with 5.6 million members, 85,073 employees, $27.5 billion revenues and $17.5 billion assets Cooperatives and nonprofits have millions of members and manage millions of dollars every day. Vancity community micro loan funds in in Vancouver The Ottawa Community Micro-Loan Funds program is different from traditional banking in Canada Maytree Foundation in Canada In the United States A coalition of more than 80 social entrepreneurs called America Forward The Centre for American Progress support an innovation fund, $50 million

15. Bangladesh (NGOs)/micro-finance institutions (MFIs) Social business, NGOs, and Charities are serving the disadvantaged people Grameen Bank, BRAC, ANNESHA, NejeraKori, Community Satellite Clinics, Women for Women, CARE-Bangladesh etc. Hybrid social business organizations: GrameenDanone, GrameenViliaater, GrameenAddidas Comilla Cooperatives , Bangladesh Rural Development Board, (BRDB) although they drifted away from their mission.

16. Bangladesh (NGOs)/micro-finance institutions (MFIs) Continued Many social enterprises depend on external donors funding like CIDA, SIDA, NORAD, US-AID, World Bank for education, health, environment, relief and other services Government funding for social businesses is limited Limited numbers R &D social economy projects

17. Similarities Thousands of jobs, billions of revenue generated, and promoted environmental development through cooperatives and non-profit organizations The Grameen Bank and its other sister organizations; ASA, BRAC and other micro-credit projects support millions of micro-enterprises in Bangladesh These SEOs have promoted social enterprises in these two countries

18. Challenges for Community based enterprises (CBEs) Maintaining a balance between individual and collective needs, and Balancing economic and social goods Financial sustainability

20. Private sectors profits devastating human ethics Although the private sector is making a contribution to their own capital, their social, ethical and environmental performance has raised concern in society. The private sectors are maximizing profits through tax evasion, loan defaults and share scandals; they provide sub-standard goods to the market, creating health hazards for the people. The third sector organizations are isolated from the mainstream policy process in Bangladesh, but in England the voluntary sector has built a formal representational and reporting institutional process framework (Elson, 2010).

21. Differences Canadian nonprofits/cooperatives are institutionally separate from government They are self-governing, but incorporated with governments In Bangladesh BRDB cooperatives fully depend on public funding Huge micro-finance organizations exist in Bangladesh but they are struggling to survive because of ROI Many Islamic philanthropic organizations work/support orphans, provide reliefs

22. Wrapping up In Bangladesh, different social economic organizations have different frameworks models, funding models, but no-one -stop information The concept of social economy is very popular in Canada which is rising in Bangladesh Bangladeshi NGOs need a platform to share their experiences Both countries social entrepreneurs/leaders could get ideas from the study