The CASE Knowledge Center is a collection of our research, writings, articles, and interviews we have published and conducted on social entrepreneurship over the years. You can use the category listings on the side of the page to filter the publications to your particular topic of interest. If you have any questions, please contact us at case@fuqua.duke.edu or subscribe to our newsletter below.
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Scaling Pathways
Through the Scaling Pathways series, CASE partners with the Skoll Foundation, USAID, and Mercy Corps Ventures to share lessons, insights, and analysis from transformative social enterprises in driving impact at scale. The series includes in-depth case studies, cross-cutting theme papers on key challenges and opportunities related to scale, snapshots of scaling organizations, and more.
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Angel Networks in Emerging Markets
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Partnership to Advance Entrepreneurship Initiative (PACE) funded CASE to research opportunities for development institutions to support angel networks to drive private sector investment in entrepreneurship in Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
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SEAD: Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke
The Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke (SEAD) was a five-year accelerator program in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the USAID Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN). Through the accelerator program the SEAD team has captured lessons learned and policy implications to ensure that our work impacts both entrepreneurs on the ground and the broader development community.
Teaching Social Entrepreneurship: An Interview With Greg Dees
By Erin Worsham Greg Dees is often referred to as the “Father of Social Entrepreneurship Education.” Over the past 20 years, he has taught social entrepreneurship courses in some of the United States’ top business schools, including Harvard, Stanford, and …
Introduction to the Special Section on Social Entrepreneurship
By Paul N. Bloom Social entrepreneurs are leaders of ventures that employ innovative approaches to address social problems. Their innovations can emerge in the ways the products or services of the venture function; the ways they are distributed and delivered; …
How to Take a Social Venture to Scale
By Paul N. Bloom For a social entrepreneur with an innovative solution, the holy grail is scaling it—that is, taking it to a level where the new approach operates efficiently and effectively to achieve significant mitigation of a social problem. …
The Key Drivers of Scaling
By Paul N. Bloom Scaling means achieving more efficient, effective, and widespread adoption of an innovation–getting a huge bang for the bucks invested. Whether you want to become the next Google or the next Habitat for Humanity, scaling is a …
The Impact Investor: People and Practices Delivering Exceptional Financial and Social Returns: The Need for Evidence and Engagement
By Cathy Clark, Jed Emerson and Ben Thornley Impact investing is at an inflection point, building off the rich histories of community finance in the United States and other countries, microfinance, international development, and the integration of ESG factors (Environmental, …
A Market Emerges: The Six Dynamics of Impact Investing
By Cathy Clark, Jed Emerson and Ben Thornley Impact investing is taking shape as a distinct activity, with its own unique stakeholder relationships and operational strategies. As dozens of new funds are created explicitly to tackle the world’s most intractable …
Scaling Social Impact: A Literature Toolkit for Funders
By Cathy Clark, Cynthia W. Massarsky, Tamara Schweitzer Raben and Erin Worsham With support from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), the authors set out to document and analyze the currently available literature on scaling, in order to both highlight the …
A New World of Metrics: Trends in Monitoring Social Return
By Cathy Clark and Jed Emerson Chapter in “Investing for Impact: How Social Entrepreneurship is Redefining the Meaning of Return.” How do impact investors know when they are truly creating impact? This practical guide explores cutting edge trends in impact …
Life Bonds: Linking Returns to Life Outcomes
By Jamie Attard Can we use the power of financial markets to drive long-term positive outcomes? Can financial markets incentivize beneficial behaviors? Can financial markets shift the focus of development towards the demands of the poor? The author believes the …
The Feasibility and Future of Social Impact Bonds in the United States
By Beth Bafford Social Impact Bonds were recently introduced as a new, innovative way to strengthen social service delivery, improve government spending, and develop impact measurement. While there is potential for this structure to be effective, the excitement surrounding this …