Development Impact Bonds: Targeting Health Outcomes

Using publicly available information, this policy paper describes all seven Development Impact Bonds (DIBs), launched globally prior to December 2018. In particular, the paper evaluates the three ‘health DIBs’ in more detail, comparing their stakeholders, implementation, and outcome structures. Building on a scoping review of relevant literature, the authors outline health DIBs in the pipeline and note that the potential of DIBs as a funding structure is hindered by the lack of publicly available information on their estimated impact and value for money. 

Drawn from this, three recommendations are made, to improve evaluation and inform the development of DIBs in the future: (1) publish plans and evaluations, (2) create and use consistent reporting guidelines, and (3) allocate funding to evaluate impact and value for money.