Community currency activities, community attachment, and quality of life: A case study of the Crooked River Alliance of TimeBanks
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abstract
Adopting community currency has been considered an effective strategy to improve local economies and social environments. Socioeconomic benefits of community currency for users have been well documented in previous studies; however, the community and quality of life benefits of community currency and the differences in such benefits between the users and non-users of community currency have not been sufficiently examined. To develop evidence-based approaches toward promoting community currency, this study has two main objectives: first to discuss the current state of knowledge on community currency in terms of its trends, correlates, and benefits; and second to present an empirical study based on a survey of 77 community currency users and 42 non-users, which examines the potential roles of community currency activities in promoting community attachment and quality of life. Results demonstrated that among community currency users, more active community currency users had higher levels of community attachment and quality of life. Also, compared to non-users, community currency users showed higher levels of quality of life. Evidence from this study suggests community currency holds strong potential to serve as an important mechanism to provide unmet, or additional, social services. It may also contribute to delivering multiple social objectives, such as improving social cohesion and empowering active citizenship.
