Andreas Andrikopoulos, The Essentials of Social Finance, London: Routledge, 2021, 214 p.

The book is divided into two main parts.In the first, the author examines the social economy and its key components, including social finance and social entrepreneurship.The second focuses on investment processes, financial intermediation, and financial innovation, which play important roles in decision-making.The primary aim is to show how social impact and profitability jointly influence the financing of investment projects.This review first provides a summary and then offers a critical evaluation.The first chapter introduces social entrepreneurship and highlights its distinguishing characteristics compared to conventional entrepreneurship.Its core objective is to create and use opportunities to generate social value through the production of public goods.This focus on social value does not mean such enterprises disregard profitability; rather, they see financial sustainability as necessary to support operations.Thus, profit and social impact are complementary, with social impact primary.The chapter stresses that social entrepreneurship occupies a position between the private and public sectors, seeking to enhance social welfare and contribute to environmental preservation by creating public goods.