Benefit-cost analysis of nonprofit cataract surgery services in Latin America: a multinational evaluation through an SROI lens

Abstract:

Cataract surgery is a transformative procedure, rapidly restoring vision and improving quality of life with minimal complications. This study evaluates the social return on investment (SROI) of bilateral cataract surgeries performed by different nonprofit organizations across Latin America. By analyzing the experiences of patients and caregivers - including increased autonomy, confidence, and reduced caregiving burdens - this research provides an estimate of the associated social and economic benefits of these interventions. The average SROI ratios under the baseline scenario are 12:1 for patients, 11:1 for caregivers, and 9:1 for patient-caregiver pairs.

Sensitivity analysis reinforces these results, with SROI ratios ranging from 3:1 to 18:1 under various assumptions about outcome duration, discount rates, and valuation of time, among other scenarios. Reduced caregiving responsibilities may create conditions for young female caregivers to pursue economic activities, potentially enhancing labor force participation.

These findings suggest that nonprofits may play an important part in addressing healthcare gaps and complementing public services, particularly in underserved regions. Furthermore, by helping to address healthcare access disparities and reduce economic burdens, nonprofit cataract surgeries may represent a promising approach to improving lives across Latin America. While the study focuses on seven nonprofit organizations and a specific intervention, its results demonstrate the potential for broader applications in nonprofit healthcare delivery. Lastly, the research highlights the importance of understanding and valuing both direct and indirect benefits of healthcare interventions.

Lopez-Star, E.; Aleman-Castilla, B.; Ochoa Ramírez, L. A.; Sánchez-Huerta, V.; Gómez Bastar, P. A.; Portillo, O. G.; Melgar, M. Y.; Guerrero, R. A.; Cotrina, F. T.; Dahik Loor, A. C. Benefit-Cost Analysis of Nonprofit Cataract Surgery Services in Latin America: A Multinational Evaluation through an SROI Lens. Cost effectiveness and resource allocation 2026, 24 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12962-026-00723-2

From faith to fortune? Religious entrepreneurs’ responses to institutional voids

Abstract:

While religion is important to billions of people worldwide, research at its intersection with entrepreneurship is in its infancy. We add to this nascent stream through an abductive, qualitative study exploring how religious entrepreneurs address institutional voids to produce positive and/or negative outcomes through their ventures.

Merging insights from structuration theory and religious agency from the literature on the sociology of religion, we explain how entrepreneurs with high levels of individual religiosity transfer such religiosity in more visible or less visible ways to their ventures. We further explain how, as their ventures face challenges stemming from institutional voids, they manifest their religious agency in different ways: entrepreneurs with more visible manifestations use mechanisms like confrontation, purposeful evasion, or remorseful acceptance; those with less visible manifestations use mechanisms such as rational evasion and pragmatic acceptance, eschewing confrontation altogether.

This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and religion by 1) integrating structuration theory and religious agency into entrepreneurship; 2) contextualizing theory at the intersection of religion, entrepreneurship, and institutional voids; and 3) inducing a grounded conceptual model that identifies distinct mechanisms and their implications at the organizational, community, and societal levels.

Moss, T. W.; Dahik Loor, A. C.; Meléndez, E.; Casanueva Fernández, A. From Faith to Fortune? Religious Entrepreneurs’ Responses to Institutional Voids.
Entrepreneurship and regional development 2026, 1-27.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2026.2614653

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Nonprofit Cataract Surgery Services: A Social Return on Investment Approach at the Mexican Institute of Ophthalmology

Abstract:

Cataract is the primary cause of treatable blindness in low- and middle-income countries. Due to limited resources, the public sector often fails to provide adequate services, resulting in long waiting times, low quality or significant quantity gaps. Nonprofits are crucial in providing supplementary or complementary funding and resources for affordable eye care and other public goods and services.

This study evaluates costs and benefits of cataract surgery at the nonprofit Mexican Institute of Ophthalmology (IMO) using data from interviews conducted in 2022 to estimate its social return. For every peso invested, the average stakeholder receives a 12:1 return in improved autonomy, self-confidence, and reduced stress levels. Sensitivity analysis suggests a SROI ratio of at least 2:1 in the most restrictive scenario, increasing to 33:1 under more lenient assumptions. Measuring and communicating the social value of nonprofit activities is critical for optimizing resource allocation, enhancing accountability, and generating valuable insights into their effectiveness.

Aleman-Castilla, B.; Ochoa-Ramírez, P.; López-Star, E.; Dahik Loor, A. C.; Espinosa-Vega, D.; Sánchez-Huerta, V. Benefit-Cost Analysis of Nonprofit Cataract Surgery Services: A Social Return on Investment Approach at the Mexican Institute of Ophthalmology. Voluntas (Manchester, England) 2024, 35 (4), 709-722.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-024-00635-w

Rural and Urban Place Renewal in Cross-Sector Partnerships

Abstract:

Despite the acknowledged importance of the meanings that people attach to places (e.g., homes, businesses, communities), the literature on cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) provides few insights into how place influences CSPs and how CSPs influence the places where they are enacted. To address this oversight, we explore the role of place using an inductive comparative study of nine CSPs, split across five rural cooperative enterprises and four urban social enterprises that have a common private-sector partner.

We inductively derive a process model of place renewal that occurs through CSP growth, and changes the meanings that individuals give to their places. We utilize Penrose’s theory of firm growth to explain how rural CSPs grew in different ways than urban CSPs, and the changed meanings of place that emerged. Both rural and urban CSPs overcome initial perceived restrictions of place through a process of realizing the potential for change, reconfiguring the organization through physical and process changes, and ultimately experiencing renewal that changes how they view their places

Our study contributes to the CSP literature by acknowledging the role of place in theorizing on CSPs, and by including the agency and voice of traditionally marginalized actors in the CSP process. It also contributes to the theory of firm growth by explicitly incorporating place as an outcome of the organizational growth process.

Loor, A. C. D.; Moss, T. W.; Han, S. Rural and Urban Place Renewal in Cross-Sector Partnerships. Journal of business ethics 2023, 184 (4), 793-812.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05366-4

Partnerships as an Enabler of Resourcefulness in Generating Sustainable Outcomes

Abstract:

Resourcefulness research has provided many insights into how entrepreneurs do more with less, yet these studies are focused primarily on resourceful behaviors undertaken by singular actors. However, partnerships may also behave resourcefully to positively influence venture growth and sustainable outcomes.

Through a qualitative study of 11 small enterprises in business partnerships with a common resource-rich partner in Mexico, we show how such partnerships yield uniquely resourceful behaviors. Our analysis also reveals that such partnership-based behaviors require distinct capacity building for resourcefulness. We thus extend theory by creating a process model in which resourcefulness mediates the relationship between nonmarket logics/informal governance and sustainable outcomes.

Moss, T. W.; Dahik Loor, A. C.; Diaz Parada, F. Partnerships as an Enabler of Resourcefulness in Generating Sustainable Outcomes. Journal of business venturing 2022, 37 (1).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2020.106089

Pink Tide or Pink Mirage? Civil Society Networks and Democratic Mobilization in Mexico’s 2024 Presidential Elections.

Abstract:

Mexico’s 2022-2024 Marea Rosa (Pink Tide) movement rose rapidly in response to growing democratic backsliding under President López Obrador. With mass protests defending electoral institutions and a pivotal role in unifying opposition parties ahead of the 2024 election, the movement seemed poised to reshape the political landscape. Yet despite its visibility and scale, the Marea Rosa ultimately had limited electoral effects.

Drawing on social movement theory and civil society literature, this article argues that the movement’s elite- driven, top-down structure fostered strong-bonding social capital but failed to cultivate bridging ties beyond its core base. The analysis combines process tracing, in-depth interviews with key organizers, and a social network analysis based on X (formerly Twitter) to trace how centralized coordination, narrow demographic reach, and abounded framing strategy curtailed the movement’s capacity to broaden support or realign the electorate.

While Marea Rosa succeeded in mobilizing discontent, it lacked the participatory innovation and inclusiveness characteristic of more transformative civic movements. The findings contribute to debates on civil society in backsliding democracies by highlighting the tradeoffs of elite-led mobilization; while effective in signaling resistance and constraining authoritarian reforms, such movements often lack the inclusiveness and participatory innovation required to reshape electoral outcomes.

Referencia: Sainz Martínez, B.2026. “Pink Tide or Pink Mirage? Civil Society Networks and Democratic Mobilization in Mexico’s 2024 Presidential Elections.” Latin American Policy17:e70058. https://doi.org/10.1111/lamp.70058.