The Emergence of Social Impact Bonds: Paying for Success in Social Service Innovation
Reason.org
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) that leverage private funds to construct public assets like highways and schools have become an increasingly popular tool used to build and modernize public infrastructure worldwide in recent decades. But only recently has the concept been extended in a robust way beyond brick-and-mortar infrastructure and into the realm of social programs. That changed in 2010 with the introduction of the “social impact bond” concept—also known as “pay for success,” “social finance,” or “social innovation finance” programs—in the United Kingdom.