Narratives of Promise, Narratives of Caution: a Review of the Literature on Social Impact Bonds

This article reviews the emerging literature on Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) in high-income settings, identifying three narratives: public sector reform, financial sector reform, and a cautionary perspective. It analyses these narratives against themes of public versus private values, outcomes contracting, and risk allocation. While the first two narratives present SIBs as "win-win" solutions, the cautionary narrative highlights potential risks. The article concludes that empirical evidence on active SIBs is limited and more research is needed to fully understand their benefits and drawbacks.