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Social Impact Bonds in Europe after COVID-19 Crisis: A
Bibliometric Analysis
Simona Selvaggi, Rocco Frondizi, Gloria Fiorani
Pages - 12 - 30 | Revised - 30-09-2025 | Published - 31-10-2025
Published in Special Issue of 3rd Business Research & Management (BRM) Conference: Towards A More Sustainable World (SIBRM13)
MORE INFORMATION
KEYWORDS
Social Impact Bonds, Payment by Success Bond in Europe, Impact Finance, SIBs.
ABSTRACT
This study performs a bibliometric and content analysis on the development of Social Impact
Bonds (SIBs) in Europe, which shows a gap, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The three
key areas analyzed are: 1) the institutional and normative ecosystem for SIBs; 2) the investment
process, especially regarding risk transfer; 3) the effect of SIBs on public benefit, focusing on the
employment sector, which is the sector that showed the best results in Europe. Through the
bibliometric analysis, the paper provides deep insight, identifying publication trends, research
clusters, keywords, collaboration patterns, and key authors, among others. From a practical
perspective, the study aims to give practical indications to policymakers and practitioners to make
the outcome-based approach more efficient and resilient to crises. It also aims to provide
academic researchers with a new direction for further research in this growing field.
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| Bengo, I., Boni, L., & Sancino, A. (2022). EU financial regulations and social impact measurement practices: A comprehensive framework on finance for sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(4), 809-819. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2235. | |
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| Broom, J., & Tchilingirian, J. (2022). Networks of knowledge production and mobility in the world of social impact bonds. New Political Economy, 27(6), 1031-1045. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2022.2054965. | |
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| Christopoulos, T. P., Verga Matos, P., & Borges, R. D. (2023). An ecosystem for social entrepreneurship and innovation: How the state integrates actors for developing impact investing in Portugal. Journal of the Knowledge Economy.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01279-9. | |
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| De Pieri, B., Chiodo, V., & Gerli, F. (2023).Based on outcomes? Challenges and (missed) opportunities of measuring social outcomes in outcome-based contracting. International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 437-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2077490. | |
| Dixon, R. (2021). Performance management in social impact bonds: How an outcomes-based approach shapes hybrid partnerships. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 34(3), 356-376. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-03-2020-0070. | |
| Economy, C., Carter, E., & Airoldi, M. (2023). Have we ‘stretched' social impact bonds too far? An empirical analysis of SIB design in practice. International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 413-436. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2077867. | |
| FitzGerald, C., Fraser, A., & Kimmitt, J. (2020). Tackling the big questions in social impact bond research through comparative approaches. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 22(2), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2020.1726177. | |
| FitzGerald, C., Fraser, A., Kimmitt, J., Knoll, L., & Williams, J. (2023). Outcomes-based contracting and public management reform: Lessons from a decade of experimentation. International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 329-338. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2023.2170504. | |
| Fox, C., Olson, H., Armitage, H., Baines, S., & Painter, G. (2023). Can a focus on co-created, strengths-based services facilitate early-stage innovation within social impact bonds? International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 396-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2078914. | |
| Fraser, A. (2023). Contested social impact bonds: Welfare conventions and the limits of outcomes-based contracting. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 26(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2022.2089792. | |
| Fraser, A., Knoll, L., & Hevenstone, D. (2023). Contested social impact bonds: Welfare conventions, conflicts and compromises in five European Active-Labor Market Programs. International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 339-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2089792. | |
| Fraser, A., Tan, S., Boaz, A., & Mays, N. (2020).Backing what works? Social Impact Bonds and evidence-informed policy and practice. Public Money & Management, 40(3), 195-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2020.1714303. | |
| Fred, M., & Mukhtar-Landgren, D. (2022). Productive resistance in public sector innovation - introducing social impact bonds in Swedish local government. Public Management Review, 24(5), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2022.2123027. | |
| French, M., Kimmitt, J., Wilson, R., Jamieson, D., & Lowe, T. (2023).Social impact bonds and public service reform: Back to the future of New Public Management?International Public Management Journal, 26(3), 376-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2050859. | |
| George, T., Rogers, J., & Roberts, A. (2020). Social impact bonds in the UK homeless sector: Perspectives of front-line link workers. Housing, Care and Support, 23(3/4), 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-08-2020-0011. | |
| Government Outcomes Lab. (2021).The first five years. Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. https://golab.bsg.ox.ac.uk/knowledge-bank/resource-library/government-outcomes-lab-the-first-five-years/. | |
| Guter-Sandu, A. (2021).The governance of social risks: Nurturing social solidarity through social impact bonds?New Political Economy, 26(6), 1062-1077. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1899151. | |
| Hevenstone, D., Fraser, A., Hobi, L., Przepiorka, W., & Geuke, G. (2023). The impact of social impact bond financing. Public Administration Review, 83(4), 930-946. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13631. | |
| Hulse, E. S. G., Atun, R., McPake, B., & Lee, J. T. (2021). Use of social impact bonds in financing health systems responses to non-communicable diseases: Scoping review. BMJ Global Health, 6(3), e004127. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004127. | |
| Kabli, A., Rizzello, A., & Trotta, A. (2021).Roadmapping new impact bonds in a post-COVID world: Insights from case studies in the education sector. Sustainability, 13(8), 4121. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084121. | |
| Logue, D., H�llerer, M., Clegg, S., Millner, R., & Jebabli, J. (2024). Managing social impact bonds: Intermediary work and designing institutional infrastructure. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1-15.https://doi.org/10.1177/10564926241274328. | |
| Maron, A., & Williams, J. W. (2023). Limits to the financialisation of the state: Exploring obstructions to social impact bonds as a form of financialised statecraft in the UK, Israel, and Canada. New Political Economy, 28(6), 865-880. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2023.2196063. | |
| Millner, R., & Meyer, M. (2022).Collaborative governance in social impact bonds: Aligning interests within divergent accountabilities?Public Management Review, 24(5), 729-751. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.2000253. | |
| Moldogaziev, T. T., Liu, C., & Ivonchyk, M. (2022). Policy experimentation with impact financing: A systematic review of research on social impact bonds. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 44(1), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2021.2019070. | |
| Olson, H., Painter, G., Albertson, K., Fox, C., & O'Leary, C. (2022). Are social impact bonds an innovation in finance or do they help finance social innovation? Journal of Social Policy, 1-25.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000356. | |
| Pastore, L., & Corvo, L. (2022). ‘SIB': What does it really mean? A theoretical approach to understanding social impact bonds. Public Money & Management, 42(2), 98-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2020.1809799. | |
| Patetta, V., & EncisoSantocildes, M. (2022). Social impact bonds and their implications for third sector organisations: Experiences from the Netherlands. Voluntary Sector Review, 13(2), 295-304. https://doi.org/10.1332/204080521X16104823141700. | |
| Rania, F., Trotta, A., Carè, R., Migliazza, M. C., & Kabli, A. (2020). Social uncertainty evaluation of social impact bonds: A model and practical application. Sustainability, 12(9), 3854. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093854. | |
| Riot, E. (2020). Betting on children at risk: Actors' views on the introduction of social impact bonds in the French field of “childhood in danger”. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(6), 856-891. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2020.1758119. | |
| Rizzello, A., & Kabli, A. (2020). Sustainable financial partnerships for the SDGs: The case of social impact bonds. Sustainability, 12(13), 5362. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135362. | |
| Rosamond, E. (2021). Derivative character investments: Social impact bonds as path-changing devices. Journal of Cultural Economy, 14(4), 485-497. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2020.1850503. | |
| Shome, S., Hassan, M. K., Verma, S., & Panigrahi, T. R. (2023). Impact investment for sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis. International Review of Economics & Finance, 84, 770-800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2022.12.001. | |
| Sinclair, S., McHugh, N., & Roy, M. J. (2021). Social innovation, financialisation and commodification: A critique of social impact bonds. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 24(1), 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2019.1571415. | |
| Tan, S., Fraser, A., McHugh, N., & Warner, M. E. (2021). Widening perspectives on social impact bonds. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 24(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2019.1568249. | |
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| Walker, T., Goubran, S., Karami, M., Dumont-Bergeron, A., Schwartz, T., & Vico, K. (2023). Mainstreaming social impact bonds: A critical analysis. Finance Research Letters, 53, 103546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103546. | |
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| Williams, J. W. (2020). Surveying the SIB economy: Social impact bonds, "local" challenges, and shifting markets in urban social problems. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(6), 907-919. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1511796. | |
| Williams, J. W. (2023). "Let's not have the perfect be the enemy of the good": Social impact bonds, randomized controlled trials, and the valuation of social programs. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 48(1), 91-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439211042083. | |
| Williams, J. W., & Treffers, S. (2021). Investing in crime prevention after the crisis: Social impact bonds, the value of (re)offending and the new 'culture of crime control'. The British Journal of Criminology, 61(5), 1300-1315. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azab003. | |
| Wilson, R., Fraser, A., Kimmitt, J., Tan, S., McHugh, N., Lowe, T., Warner, M., Baines, S., & Carter, E. (2020). Theme: Futures in social investment? Learning from the emerging policy and practice of social impact bonds (SIBs): Editorial: Whither social impact bonds (SIBs): The future of social investment? Public Money & Management, 40(3), 179-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2020.1714287. | |
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Dr. Simona Selvaggi
Faculty of Management, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rome, 00173 - Italy
simona.selvaggi27@gmail.com
Dr. Rocco Frondizi
Faculty of Management, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rome, 00173 - Italy
Dr. Gloria Fiorani
Faculty of Management, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rome, 00173 - Italy
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