Payment by Results and Social Impact Bonds

Abstract

Over recent years there has been increasing interest in ‘Payment by Results’ (PbR) — Pay for Success (PFS) or outcomes-based funding in the US — as a model for outcomes-based commissioning in the public sector. Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) — Pay for Success financing in the US — are a class of PbR where the finance needed to make the contract work is provided by private finance, rather than the service provider. This short book asks whether and under what circumstances PbR/PFS and SIBs/PSBs are an efficient way to unlock new capital investment and advance social goods. It considers whether PbR/PFS and SIBs/Pay for Success financing drive efficiency and innovation in the delivery of social outcomes, and whether attempts to reconcile corporate profits and social goods may lead to perverse incentives and inefficiency. It also analyses the impact of PbR and SIBs on not-for-profit and smaller players in the market for social outcomes.