Social Impact Investing

SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENT: BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE
is being devolved to the sub-central level for administration (around 10% of total). All countries under the
45 degree line receive devolved funds to some degree. Notably, in Australia and the United States
sub-central governments only administer their own revenues; in Japan, some sub-central revenues are
administered at the central level.
5.54 For SII, as noted above, not only will this shift of funds create levels of uncertainty about streams
of revenue etc. to social enterprise where it exists, but the information on the share of revenue administered
at different levels highlights the potential for SII to function differently in different countries (nationally
administered services will have different ‘business’ plans compared to locally administered services, for
example in the areas of fixed capital and employee ‘banks’, economies of scale, underlying legislation and
reporting/auditing mechanisms).
Figure 5.9 How much of central government funds are devolved to local authorities for social interventions
varies widely
Note: G7 countries and Australia are highlighted.
Source: OECD (2013b).
5.4 Evaluating what works in social service provision
5.55 The evidence on social outcomes and social spending shown sections 5.2 and 5.3 can be used to
highlight challenges and opportunities for SII. However, together these only highlight the space into which
SII might move, and they do not provide any clear messages as to how to implement processes that might
‘fill these social outcome gaps’.
5.56 This section reviews briefly the mix of evidence on good practice in public service provision in
the area of elderly care and childcare, highlighting potential opportunities for SII. What is most evident is
that better data and evaluations are needed. Chapter 7 discusses briefly ways to address this gap, and
provides a point of departure for meaningful outcome measurement for impact evaluation in this area.
5.4.1 Good practice in service provision
5.57 Reading the data on social outcomes above alongside the data on public interventions clearly
shows continued and sometimes expanding social need in the context of increases of public spending in
most social sectors. In particular, the areas of elderly care and childcare stand out as priorities. For SII to
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