IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ulb/ulbeco/2013-341622.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Ethics of Alternative Currencies

Author

Listed:
  • Louis Larue
  • Camille Meyer
  • Marek Hudon
  • Joakim Sandberg

Abstract

Alternative currencies are means of payment that circulate alongside-as an alternative or complement to-official currencies. While these currencies have existed for a long time, both society and academia have shown a renewed interest in their potential to decentralize the governance of monetary affairs and to bring people and organizations together in more ethical or sustainable ways. This article is a review of the ethical and philosophical implications of these alternative monetary projects. We first discuss various classifications of these currencies before analyzing the ethical challenges linked to the way they tackle social and environmental issues. We also examine the incentive-based and coercive mechanisms used by these currencies from an ethical perspective and debate the promises and perils of monetary decentralization and democracy. We conclude by identifying an agenda for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis Larue & Camille Meyer & Marek Hudon & Joakim Sandberg, 2022. "The Ethics of Alternative Currencies," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341622, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/341622
    Note: SCOPUS: ar.j
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/341622/1/doi_325266.pdf
    File Function: Full text for the whole work, or for a work part
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jérôme Blanc, 2017. "Unpacking monetary complementarity and competition: a conceptual framework," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(1), pages 239-257.
    2. Camille Meyer & Marek Hudon, 2019. "Money and the Commons: An Investigation of Complementary Currencies and Their Ethical Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 277-292, November.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/12383 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Peter Conti-Brown, 2016. "The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10576.
    5. Jérôme Blanc & Marie Fare, 2013. "Understanding the Role of Governments and Administrations in the Implementation of Community and Complementary Currencies," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(1), pages 63-81, March.
    6. Joachain, Hélène & Klopfert, Frédéric, 2014. "Smarter than metering? Coupling smart meters and complementary currencies to reinforce the motivation of households for energy savings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 89-96.
    7. Marie Briere & Kim Oosterlinck & Ariane Szafarz, 2015. "Virtual Currency, Tangible Return: Portfolio Diversification with Bitcoins," Post-Print CEB, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 16(6), pages 365-373.
    8. Searle, John R., 2015. "Status functions and institutional facts: reply to Hindriks and Guala," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 507-514, September.
    9. Ariane Tichit & Clément Mathonnat & Diego Landivar, 2016. "Classifying Non-Bank Currency Systems Using Web Data," Post-Print hal-01995950, HAL.
    10. Seyfang, Gill & Longhurst, Noel, 2013. "Growing green money? Mapping community currencies for sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 65-77.
    11. Dirk Niepelt, 2020. "Reserves for All? Central Bank Digital Currency, Deposits, and Their (Non)-Equivalence," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(3), pages 211-238, June.
    12. Jérôme Blanc, 2018. "Les monnaies alternatives," Post-Print halshs-01923088, HAL.
    13. Kumhof, Michael & Noone, Clare, 2018. "Central bank digital currencies - design principles and balance sheet implications," Bank of England working papers 725, Bank of England.
    14. Guéorguieva-Bringuier, Laura & Ottaviani, Fiona, 2018. "Opposition and Isomorphism with the Neoliberal Logic in Community Exchange Systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 88-97.
    15. Ana Cristina O. Siqueira & Benson Honig & Sandra Mariano & Joysi Moraes, 2020. "A Commons Strategy for Promoting Entrepreneurship and Social Capital: Implications for Community Currencies, Cryptocurrencies, and Value Exchange," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 711-726, November.
    16. Grant, Ruth W., 2006. "Ethics and Incentives: A Political Approach," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 100(1), pages 29-39, February.
    17. Jérôme Blanc & Marie Fare, 2016. "Turning values concrete: the role and ways of business selection in local currency schemes," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(3), pages 298-319, September.
    18. Guillaume Vallet, 2016. "A local money to stabilize capitalism : the underestimated case of the WIR," Post-Print halshs-01450197, HAL.
    19. Boyd Cohen, 2017. "The Rise of Alternative Currencies in Post-Capitalism," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 739-746, July.
    20. Lambrecht, Maxime & Larue, Louis, 2018. "After the (virtual) gold rush: is Bitcoin more than a speculative bubble?," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 7(4), pages 1-22.
    21. Camilo Mora & Randi L. Rollins & Katie Taladay & Michael B. Kantar & Mason K. Chock & Mio Shimada & Erik C. Franklin, 2018. "Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°C," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(11), pages 931-933, November.
    22. M.S. Peacock, 2000. "Local Exchange Trading Systems: A Solution to the Employment Dilemma?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 55-78, March.
    23. Oliver Sanz, Esther, 2016. "Community currency (CCs) in Spain: An empirical study of their social effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 20-27.
    24. De Filippi, Primavera, 2014. "Bitcoin: a regulatory nightmare to a libertarian dream," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 3(2), pages 1-11.
    25. Laura Gueorguieva-Bringuier & Fiona Ottaviani, 2018. "Opposition and isomorphism with the neoliberal logic in community exchange systems," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-01738159, HAL.
    26. Camille Meyer & Marek Hudon, 2017. "Alternative organizations in finance: Commoning in complementary currencies," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/259111, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    27. Marie MF Fare & Carlos CF Freitas & Camille Meyer, 2015. "Territorial development and Community currencies :symbolic meanings in Brazilian Community development banks," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/218578, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    28. Fantacci, Luca, 2005. "Complementary currencies: a prospect on money from a retrospect on premodern practices," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(01), pages 43-61, April.
    29. Kuroda, Akinobu, 2008. "Concurrent but non-integrable currency circuits: complementary relationships among monies in modern China and other regions," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 17-36, April.
    30. Laura Gueorguieva-Bringuier & Fiona Ottaviani, 2018. "Opposition and isomorphism with the neoliberal logic in community exchange systems," Post-Print halshs-01738159, HAL.
    31. David Cleveland & Allison Carruth & Daniella Mazaroli, 2015. "Operationalizing local food: goals, actions, and indicators for alternative food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 281-297, June.
    32. Charles P. Kindleberger & Robert Z. Aliber, 2005. "Manias, Panics and Crashes," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-0-230-62804-5.
    33. Richters, Oliver & Siemoneit, Andreas, 2017. "Consistency and stability analysis of models of a monetary growth imperative," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 114-125.
    34. Boyce, James K., 2018. "Carbon Pricing: Effectiveness and Equity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 52-61.
    35. Hindriks, Frank & Guala, Francesco, 2015. "Institutions, rules, and equilibria: a unified theory," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 459-480, September.
    36. Jérôme Blanc, 2018. "« Les monnaies alternatives, bilan d’étape et perspectives »," Post-Print halshs-02044563, HAL.
    37. Jean-Michel Servet, 2013. "Monnaie : quand la dette occulte le partage," Revue française de socio-Economie, La découverte, vol. 0(2), pages 125-147.
    38. Karim Ben Slimane & Rachida Justo & Nabil Khelil, 2020. "Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Contested Commons: Insights from Struggles Over the Oasis of Jemna in Tunisia," Post-Print hal-02926082, HAL.
    39. C C Williams, 1996. "Local Exchange and Trading Systems: A New Source of Work and Credit for the Poor and Unemployed?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 28(8), pages 1395-1415, August.
    40. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    41. Marshall, Adam P. & O'Neill, Daniel W., 2018. "The Bristol Pound: A Tool for Localisation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 273-281.
    42. Marie Fare & Pepita Ould Ahmed, 2017. "Complementary currency systems and their ability to support economic and social changes," Post-Print halshs-01623361, HAL.
    43. Steven Schnell, 2013. "Food miles, local eating, and community supported agriculture: putting local food in its place," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 615-628, December.
    44. Michel, Arnaud & Hudon, Marek, 2015. "Community currencies and sustainable development: A systematic review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 160-171.
    45. Samuel Bowles, 1998. "Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 75-111, March.
    46. Karim Ben-Slimane & Rachida Justo & Nabil Khelil, 2020. "Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Contested Commons: Insights from Struggles Over the Oasis of Jemna in Tunisia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 673-690, November.
    47. Hodgson, Geoffrey M., 2019. "Taxonomic definitions in social science, with firms, markets and institutions as case studies," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 207-233, April.
    48. Blanc, Jérôme, 2015. "Contester par projets. Le cas des monnaies locales associatives," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reyns, Ariane, 2024. "What drives businesses to transact with complementary currencies?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    2. Louis Larue, 2022. "The case against alternative currencies," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 75-93, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Louis Larue, 2022. "The case against alternative currencies," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 75-93, February.
    2. Larue, Louis, 2020. "The Ecology of Money: A Critical Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    3. Camille Meyer & Marek Hudon, 2019. "Money and the Commons: An Investigation of Complementary Currencies and Their Ethical Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 277-292, November.
    4. Reyns, Ariane, 2024. "What drives businesses to transact with complementary currencies?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    5. Francisco Javier García-Corral & Jaime de Pablo-Valenciano & Juan Milán-García & José Antonio Cordero-García, 2020. "Complementary Currencies: An Analysis of the Creation Process Based on Sustainable Local Development Principles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Camille Meyer & Marek Hudon, 2017. "Alternative organizations in finance: commoning in complementary currencies," Working Papers CEB 17-015, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Bruno Nogueira Silva & Wesley Vieira Silva & Alvaro Fabiano Pereira Macêdo & Natallya Almeida Levino & Luciano Luiz Dalazen & Fabíola Kaczam & Claudimar Pereira Veiga, 2024. "A systematic review on social currency: a one-decade perspective," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(2), pages 636-652, June.
    8. Oriane Lafuente-Sampietro, 2021. "Convertible local currencies and localisation: findings from a user survey and network analysis of local French currencies," Working Papers halshs-03324630, HAL.
    9. Matti, Josh & Zhou, Yang, 2022. "Money is money: The economic impact of BerkShares," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    10. Nina Stępnicka & Grzegorz Zimon & Dariusz Brzozowiec, 2021. "The Complementary Currency Zielony in Poland and Its Importance for the Development of Local Economy Entities during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    11. Alexandra Lenis Escobar & Ramón Rueda López & Jorge E. García Guerrero & Enrique Salinas Cuadrado, 2020. "Design of Strategies for the Implementation and Management of a Complementary Monetary System Using the SWOT-AHP Methodology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, August.
    12. Georgina M. Gómez, 2019. "Money as an Institution: Rule versus Evolved Practice? Analysis of Multiple Currencies in Argentina," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, May.
    13. Rodrigo de Oliveira Leite & Layla dos Santos Mendes & Roberto Tommasetti & Vinicius Mothe Maia & Rodrigo Soto Larrain, 2022. "The Role of Motivated Financial Institutions on Community Currencies Loans," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-10, October.
    14. Michael Demmler & Amilcar Orlian Fernández Domínguez, 2021. "Bitcoin and the South Sea Company: A comparative analysis," Revista Finanzas y Politica Economica, Universidad Católica de Colombia, vol. 13(1), pages 197-224, March.
    15. Jérôme Blanc & Marie Fare, 2018. "Pathways to Improvement. Successes and Difficulties of Local Currency Schemes in France since 2010," Post-Print halshs-01996923, HAL.
    16. Nadia von Jacobi & Enrica Chiappero‐Martinetti & Lara Maestripieri & Toa Giroletti, 2024. "Creating social value by empowering people: a social innovation perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 413-439, June.
    17. Paulo Reis Mourao & Wiliam Retamiro, 2021. "Community development banks (CDB): a bibliometric analysis of the first 2 decades of scientific production," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 477-493, January.
    18. Christian Gelleri, 2022. "Creating Monetary Collaborative Spaces for Social and Ecological Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, November.
    19. Sarah Zeller, 2020. "Economic Advantages of Community Currencies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-11, November.
    20. Georgina M. Gómez & Paolo Dini, 2016. "Making sense of a crank case: monetary diversity in Argentina (1999–2003)," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(5), pages 1421-1437.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    alternative currencies; complementary currencies; cryptocurrencies; ethics of money; nature of money;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/341622. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Benoit Pauwels (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ecsulbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.