Social Innovation Lessons from Microangels? An Institutional Entrepreneurship Case Study of the CIGALES Movement in France

Abstract:     
One way by which microentrepreneurs can increase their ability to take debt is to take equity alongside, thus respecting prudent ratios and reducing stress. But microequity has not developed in most of the developing world. At the same time, since 1983, microequity has been started in France through a socially innovative movement known as CIGALES. Today, there are over a hundred CIGALES clubs. How have these multiplied and why hasn't the movement grown faster and more global? We look at the development of the CIGALES movement from an Institutional lens. Based on fifteen semi-structured interviews, we trace the creation and expansion of the movement and see internal blockages are as important as the external institutional cage (including norms and beliefs) that limited it. We focus on institutional entrepreneurial work undertaken to spread and maintain the movement of microangel clubs rather than actions and projects financed by each individual club. We find that catalytic innovation not only requires the institutional entrepreneur to collaborate with other complementary institutions but also to create such institutions. Since poverty eradication is going to require a series of social innovations and their diffusion, this paper could be useful for future development efforts.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 43

Keywords: institutional entrepreneur, venture capital, business angels, catalytic innovation, disruptive innovation, micro-angel, micro-equity, microfinance

JEL Classification: B25, D71, E11, G24, L31, M13, O16, O17

working papers series