Dear users, today we have a very personal request. We have decided to offer our learning materials free of charge because we believe in an open, pluralist economic science that is available to everyone, worldwide. We do this without advertising because we want to remain independent of commercial interests. But our commitment to independence and open access also has its price. Every year we have large costs for programming, staff and to support our authors. If everyone reading this gave a small amount, we could keep Exploring Economics thriving for years to come - but 99% of our users don't give. So today we ask you to protect Exploring Economics's independence. The heart and soul of Exploring Economics is a community of people working to bring you unlimited access to high-qualitiy, economic learning and teaching material. Please take just a few moments to help us keep Exploring Economics going. Thank you!
We are a registered non-profit organization | Bank account: Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik e.V., IBAN: DE91 4306 0967 6037 9737 00, SWIFT-BIC: GENODEM1GLS | Imprint
Low-Profit Investment, Pricing, Funding, Supporting
Exploring Economics, 2021
Exploring Economics for Teachers
Exploring Economics collects course descriptions, syllabi and slides so that lecturers can share ressources and innovate their teaching.
Share your Syllabus Find more Teaching Material
Low-Profit Investment, Pricing, Funding, Supporting
This syllabus was originally taught at Leuphana University Luneburg.
Instructor: Christian Fahrbach
Course Summary
Low-Profit is an attempt to close the gap between non-profit and for-profit, between beneficent and profit-oriented business.
The project seminar " Low-Profit Investment, Pricing, Funding, Supporting” is a novelty in economics. It's about the question: How can investments be funded, serving a social and ecological purpose and generating a rate of return just between zero and 3% p.a.? Examples are organic farming, renewable energy, water supply, recycling etc.
The project seminar refers to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the overriding topic: Can low-profit investment help to achieve the SDG? In order to answer this question, there is an introduction to classical finance, explaining terms and relationships in detail. First of all, students should know the classical model, recognizing its limits and adopting a holistic perspective. After that, students are challenged to connect low-profit with a single SDG and to elaborate a self-chosen research topic in group work during the semester. Finally, the groups give a joint presentation and create a joint project report at the end of the semester.
The didactic method used in the seminar is “exploratory learning”. The lecture is given in German according to my textbook about low-profit investment (2014).
Assignments and Assessment
The exam consists of two different formats: a group presentation and a group project report. Both exam formats are assessed on the one hand individually. On the other hand, the group is assessed as a whole by the lecturer.
Course Overview
The course is organized as follows: After an introduction in the specific feature of the project seminar, there is an introduction to low-profit and the difference between the pragmatic-utilitarian and the theoretic-financial approach. The pragmatic approach is about good and best practice examples, legal forms and funding, e.g. cooperative shares. The financial approach is about the question: How can central bank and state (government) ensure favorable framework conditions for low-profit investment, opening up a potential of social and ecological investment opportunities, that contribute to the SDG?
You can download both slides and lecture scripts below (in German language).
Stay tuned!
Subscribe to our newsletter to learn about new debates, conferences and writing workshops.
Subscribe!
Donate
This project is brought to you by the Network for Pluralist Economics (Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik e.V.). It is committed to diversity and independence and is dependent on donations from people like you. Regular or one-off donations would be greatly appreciated.