Widening perspectives on social impact bonds

TY - JOUR

T1 - Widening perspectives on social impact bonds

AU - Tan, Stefanie

AU - Fraser, Alec

AU - McHugh, Neil

AU - Warner, Mildred

N1 - Funding Information: The contributions to this paper from Stefanie Tan and Alec Fraser derive from independent research commissioned and funded by the NIHR Policy Research Programme through its core support to the Policy Innovation Research Unit (Project No: 102/0001). The views expressed in the publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care, its arm?s length bodies or other Government Departments. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are a novel financing mechanism for public services delivery. This special issue about SIBs in the UK argues that they necessitate closer examination to understand the implications for all stakeholders. This introductory paper critically explores and challenges dominant practitioner narratives of SIBs as “win-win” solutions for governments and service providers. While SIBs may foster innovation it is unclear if they deliver better value given the complexity of public services. SIBs are a strategically ambiguous policy tool and policymakers should be cautious about SIBs due to contractual complexity and issues with ethics, governance, accountability and transparency.

AB - Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are a novel financing mechanism for public services delivery. This special issue about SIBs in the UK argues that they necessitate closer examination to understand the implications for all stakeholders. This introductory paper critically explores and challenges dominant practitioner narratives of SIBs as “win-win” solutions for governments and service providers. While SIBs may foster innovation it is unclear if they deliver better value given the complexity of public services. SIBs are a strategically ambiguous policy tool and policymakers should be cautious about SIBs due to contractual complexity and issues with ethics, governance, accountability and transparency.

KW - pay for success

KW - payment by results

KW - performance pay

KW - Social impact bonds

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060928917&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/17487870.2019.1568249

DO - 10.1080/17487870.2019.1568249

M3 - Editorial

AN - SCOPUS:85060928917

SN - 1748-7870

VL - 24

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Journal of Economic Policy Reform

JF - Journal of Economic Policy Reform

IS - 1

ER -