Abstract
Community currencies are growing worldwide and exist in a variety of forms. One interesting type of local currency is ā€�timeā€¯. A time bank operates like a volunteer organization, with a member registering all member transactions. The principal characteristic of time banking is that the credit, that every member receives for a good or a service supplied, has the same value ā€“ one time credit per hour ā€“ regardless of type or quality of product or service provided. Even though time bank is diffuse worldwide, being also considered by academic researches, the same diffusion can not be registered in Brazil and, consequently, Brazilian literature about this topic is poor. Therefore, the objective of this paper is contributing to the literature on this subject, analysing one of the first experiences of time bank developed in Brazil: ā€�Banco de Tempo ā€“ FlorianĆ³polisā€¯ (BTF). BTF is a time bank developed and situated in FlorianĆ³polis, city in the Southern region of Brazil. BTF was created in mid-2016 and in few months, increases considerably the number of member. This paper shows, primarily, some basic indicators and, secondly, utilizing a social network analysis software packages, presents advanced indicators of time banking participation. The indicators on BTF indicate an increasing member participation and a beginning of creation of social capital within the group.
Author Information
Michele Romanello, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil
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