An Impact Assessment Model for Web-Based Time Banks – A Thought-Experiment in the Operationalization of Social Capital

Abstract

The following paper is meant to be practical, in that it offers an impact assessment model for web-based time banks that was produced as a consultancy project deliverable; and academic, in that it offers a thought-experiment about the measurement of social capital and its association with sustainable development. As the development field continues to transition towards sustainable models that include social variables, innovative impact assessment tools are needed to fully understand the role of these variables for planning and investment. Web-based time banks – online networks that members exchange services by using an alternative currency in the form of time – offer an opportunity to look at the operationalization of social variables in a unique way, particularly social capital and its relationship to economic development. The impact assessment model seeks to answer: how do time banks as a development intervention augment the social capital of communities? The model was designed based on three dimensions of social capital, psychological, social and economic, and Edgar Cahn’s theory of co-production. The model contributes to the economic valuation of time bank participation through the metrics: Market Value Savings and Economic Risk of Participation.