Social impact bonds: shifting the boundaries of citizenship

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Chapter Seven focuses on efficiency of administration and the mixing of morals and mathematics in the context of the financialisation of everyday life. They examine the development and scope of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), a policy instrument designed to extend the role of private finance in welfare provision and delivery, following in the wake of previous efforts to outsource public services and expand the mechanisms for ‘payments by results’. As the authors demonstrate in the UK SIBs represent more than just an expansion of existing privatisation measures; they are part of the financialisation of service provision and delivery, bringing venture capital and the risk calculations and hedging of welfare outcomes to the financial market in an effort to shake up the assumed public sector inertia. As the authors discuss, the assumptions of risk, cost-saving attributes and the measurability of outcomes are all problematic in the financialised framework.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSocial Policy Review 26: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, 2014
EditorsK. Farnsworth, Z. Irving, M. Fenger
Place of PublicationBristol
PublisherThe Policy Press
Pages119-136
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781447315599
ISBN (Print)9781447315568
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jun 2014

Keywords

  • financialisation
  • welfare provision
  • Social Impact Bonds
  • private finance
  • privatisation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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