Bridging Institutional Logics: Social Impact Bonds in Corporatist Welfare States
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Join the next GO Lab/Roskilde Research Forum session to discover how differences in European welfare systems affect Social Impact Bond implementation
The Research Forum on Outcomes in Cross-Sector Collaboration is a gathering of researchers whose work engages with, or relates to, outcomes-based approaches to public service provision. Every two months, the Forum hosts guest speakers to present an aspect of their research or talk through a particular issue that is influencing their work. The research forum is co-hosted by the Government Outcomes Lab, University of Oxford, and The Center for Research on Public-Private Collaboration, Roskilde University.
Themes of interest to the Forum include:
- Cross-sector partnerships (e.g., PPPs) in the pursuit of policy goals
- Outcomes-based approaches to public service provision including social outcomes contracting
- Stewardship of mixed economies of public service delivery (outsourcing, insourcing, voluntary sector involvement, place-based working)
We aim to reflect the full breadth that these topics entail, as well as issues relating to research process and methodology. We therefore welcome empirical content from different locations around the world, as well as theoretical discussions covering the various conceptual frameworks through which efforts to improve social outcomes can be interpreted and understood.
The sessions are intended to be informal in nature, allowing for free-flowing discussion, the testing of ideas among peers, and wrestling with the challenges of interdisciplinary work in this space. The Research Forum therefore provides an arena for researchers away from the demands of having a polished ‘policy message’ or published paper. In doing so, we hope to develop a scholarly network that will enrich our research, disseminate ideas, and foster collaboration across institutions.
What to expect
Research Forum meetings are one hour and 15 minutes long, and are held online. They are free to attend, and anyone who is interested is welcome to join. The target audience is principally researchers, however, and these sessions will particularly appeal to members of academic institutions, consultancies, and/or think tanks, whose work relates to the above outlined themes.
If you are interested in presenting at the Forum please contact Eleanor Carter, Research Director at the Government Outcomes Lab, or Ole Helby Petersen, Director of The Center for Research on Public-Private Collaboration, Roskilde University.
Session overview
As welfare states globally face societal challenges and limited financial resources, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) have emerged as an instrument to address social problems through cross-sector collaboration and innovative funding approaches. While the Anglo-Saxon region has seen dynamic SIB developments, continental European countries with corporatist welfare state structures have shown a divergent and more hesitant development.
In this session of the Research Forum, Antonia Muhr will present her latest research examining the factors behind this divergence. She will particularly focus on how welfare system characteristics and cross-sector collaboration affect SIB implementation. Through a cross-country case study of the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy, Antonia and her colleagues conducted 32 interviews with stakeholders from the public, private, academic, and social sectors. Using the Institutional Logic Perspective, they explore how conflicting logics between stakeholders, particularly state and private actors, influence SIB development and analyse the role of individual actors in this development.
Initial findings suggest that corporatist welfare systems present both structural and cultural challenges for SIBs. Cooperation among stakeholders can reveal conflicts due to different institutional logics, and while the engagement and motivation of individual actors are crucial to driving SIBs forward, success is more likely when these actors are state-affiliated or receive strong government support.