Implementation Drivers of Pay-for-Success Projects: The U.S. Experience

ABSTRACT

Despite mounting worldwide use of Pay-for-Success (PFS) projects to deliver social services, available research consists largely of commentary with scant details on the actual implementation of these projects. This study offers an exploratory analysis of PFS projects in the U.S. from an implementation science perspective to elucidate the challenges to its success. Using inductive and deductive strategies to analyze data obtained from semi-structured interviews with government officials, the study examines factors associated with successful PFS project implementation and concludes that strong organizational commitment and a significant investment of personnel time and energy are required. Recommendations are made for governments interested in such projects to invest in organizational capacity building and PFS training to ensure smooth project implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Pay-for-success
• social impact bond (SIB)
• performance
• local government
• public management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The authors acknowledge that PFS success may be measured in different ways and by different indicators, such as through intervention success and payment to investors, program impact, or other measures. Examining these factors may lead to a more colorful picture of implementation and success of the PFS projects. The current study focuses on implementation success, as these projects were at varying stages; therefore, implementation fidelity is a meaningful measure of success.