Inscribing Impact: Measurement Practices in the Making of Moral Markets

Abstract

Moral markets, designed to generate positive impact on pressing social and environmental challenges, are transforming traditional market practices by including more than economic considerations in their operations. The importance of these markets continues to grow as investors, regulators, and consumers increasingly put pressure on companies to account for their broader social and environmental impacts. However, the absence of standardized norms and tools to measure impact may erode trust and lead to ‘impact washing’. This paper examines the process of impact inscription – how actors embed their principles, objectives, and values into artefacts such as measurement tools that shape moral market practices. Drawing on qualitative, in-depth data from Spain's emerging impact investing market, we unpack impact inscription and identify three key mechanisms: demarcating moral market boundaries, accounting for social issues, and redefining governance structures. By driving changes in scope, roles, and incentives, these mechanisms influence the emergence of moral markets and can result in either disruptive change (with the risk of paralysis) or incremental change (with the risk of goal displacement). Our study also prompts a deeper reflection on how measurement tools embed value judgments, shaping how markets internalize social and environmental externalities and integrate them into market exchanges.