Current complementary currencies have often been designed intentionally to address specific issues, for example to increase financial stability.5 Most complementary currencies have multiple purposes and/or are intended to address multiple issues. They can be useful for communities that do not have access to financial capital, and for adjusting peoples' spending behavior.6 The 2006 Annual Report of the Worldwide Database of Complementary Currency Systems presented a survey of 150 complementary currency systems in which 94 respondents said that "all reasons" were selected, among cooperation, micro/small/medium enterprise development, activating the local market, reducing the need for national currency, and community development.7
Aims may include:
Alternative currencies increase in activity if the local economy slows down, and decrease in activity if the local economy goes up.10[dubious – discuss] They are most successful if the currency circulates within the users, in cycles or loops, as shown in an analysis of the use of Sardex by 1,477 entities in Sardinia in 2013 and 2014.11
According to professor Nikolaus Läufer's theory, the use of local currencies such as Freigeld can only increase economic activity temporarily. Lengthy use of a local currency will ultimately result in a decline in economic activity and lead to a destabilization of the economy. This is due to the increased circulation velocity of the money as the amount in circulation decreases (as currencies as Freigeld reduce in value rapidly).12
There are some complementary currencies that are regional or global, such as the Community Exchange System, WIR and Friendly Favors, Tibex in the Lazio region in Italy or the proposed global currency terra.13
A community currency is a type of complementary currency that has the explicit aim to support and build more equal, connected and sustainable societies. A community currency is designed to be used by a specific group.14
Other non-regional complementary currencies include:
Costanza, Robert et al., "Complementary Currencies as a Method to Improve Local Sustainable Economic Welfare", University of Vermont, Draft, 12 December 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20090612090715/http://www.elecan.net/docs/moned/ccto.pdf ↩
Lietaer, Bernard; Hallsmith, Gwendolyn (2006). "Community Currency Guide" (PDF). Global Community Initiatives. Retrieved 18 June 2015. http://cemusstudent.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Community-Currency-Guide.pdf ↩
Blanc, Jérôme (2011). "Classifying "CCs": Community, complementary and local currencies' types and generations" (PDF). International Journal of Community Currency Research. 15: 4–10. https://ijccr.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ijccr-2011-special-issue-02-blanc.pdf ↩
Fare, Marie; Ahmed, Pepita Ould (2014). "The complementary currency systems: a tricky issue for economists". hal.archives-ouvertes.fr. Retrieved 18 June 2015. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ird-01081350/document ↩
Lietaer, Bernard; Ulanowicz, Robert; Goerner, Sally (2009). "Options for Managing a Systemic Bank Crisis". S.A.P.I.EN.S. 2 (1). http://sapiens.revues.org/747 ↩
"Faludi, Jeremy "Complementary Currency: For Bootstrapping, But Not For Everything", Worldchanging, 4 October 2005". Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090313110506/http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003575.html ↩
DeMeulenaere, S. (2007). "2006 Annual Report of the Worldwide Database of Complementary Currency Systems" (PDF). International Journal of Community Currency Research. 11: 23–35. doi:10.15133/j.ijccr.2007.003. ISSN 1325-9547. https://ijccr.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ijccr-vol-11-2007-2-demeulenaere.pdf ↩
Stodder, James (January 2005). "Implications for Macroeconomic Stability" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20170830062127/http://www.lietaer.com/images/Stodder_Reciprocal_Exchange.pdf ↩
Iosifidis, George; Charette, Yanick; Airoldi, Edoardo M.; Littera, Giuseppe; Tassiulas, Leandros; Christakis, Nicholas A. (November 2018). "Cyclic motifs in the Sardex monetary network". Nature Human Behaviour. 2 (11): 822–829. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0450-0. ISSN 2397-3374. PMID 31558815. S2CID 256713022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-018-0450-0 ↩
Läufer, Nikolaus (31 December 2006). "Natural Economic Order Theories or Freiwirtschaftslehre (Silvio Gesell)" (in German). University of Konstanz. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20121120232834/http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/wiwi/laufer/main.html#FREI ↩
B. Rietaer, "Global Complementally Currency: Making Money Sustainable", Environmental Research Quarterly, Vol. 125, pp. 53–59, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20120217004625/http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200214/000020021402A0521947.php ↩
"People Powered Money: designing, developing and delivering community currencies" (PDF). Community Currencies in Action. Retrieved 17 June 2015.[permanent dead link] http://www.neweconomics.org/page/-/publications/ppm__digital.pdf ↩
"Making Money for Business: Currencies, Profit, and Long-Term Thinking". thesolutionsjournal.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20111108154338/http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/992 ↩
"Fizetőeszköz lesz a Rábaközi Tallér". kisalfold.hu. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100829151531/http://www.kisalfold.hu/rabakozi_hirek/fizetoeszkoz_lesz_a_rabakozi_taller/2175652/ ↩
"Sardex homepage". sardex.net. Retrieved 20 March 2014. http://www.sardex.net/ ↩
The Sardex Factor, Financial Times https://next.ft.com/content/cf875d9a-5be6-11e5-a28b-50226830d644 ↩
"The dollar alternatives - Ven". cnn.com. Cable News Network. Retrieved 3 April 2014. https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1007/gallery.Alternate_Currency.fortune/4.html ↩