Sijoittajat sosiaalisia ongelmia ratkaisemassa: Sosiaalisen tulosrahoituksen tavoitteet asiantuntijapuheessa

Innovations have a significant impact on the direction in which the welfare state is developed. Their importance is continuing to grow as the economy loses momentum. One of the most recent social innovations for the provision and funding of welfare services is Impact Investing, one form of which is the Social Impact Bond. In this model, private or institutional investors invest in welfare services and take financial risk. The municipality, state or other subscriber to the service only pays for obtained and verified results. This study explores the hopes and expectations attached by Finnish experts to the Social Impact Bond. The analysis is based on interviews with 14 experts who have worked on Social Impact Bond projects in Finland.

The results reveal four objectives and four methods that the Social Impact Bond combines. They are aimed at systemic change in the Finnish welfare state. The first objective is the prevention of social problems. The second is improving the productivity and efficiency of social services. The third objective is the delivery of better services, and the fourth is to reduce the budget deficit. These objectives can be achieved by applying model-related methods. The first method is performance measurement and enhancing public sector effectiveness. The second method is increasing inter-sector cooperation. The third method is buying results, and the fourth is transferring the financial risk to private investors. Experts expect that the Social Impact Bond may change the systemic structure of the welfare state as the operational logic of the model is incorporated into the public sector.