Funding Research, Development and innovation in Spain Via Socially Responsible Investing

The current debt and growth crisis in Europe has led in Spain to policies of austerity with cutbacks in public spending and private-sector deleveraging. This has made it harder to secure funding in areas such as scientific research and development, where there have been major cuts in both direct funding and government subsidies. Altruistic movements have emerged as a way of offsetting the shortfall. This paper analyses the current situation as regards savings and collective saving instruments in Spain, with the aim of designing alternative ways of channelling socially responsible investing towards scientific R&D.