I wrote earlier about the number of social impact bonds in the world.
The exact number of these programs that are being designed should not be itself important to know.
However, knowing these numbers over time may answer some interesting questions:
– What is the rate of adoption for this innovation among policymakers? This speaks to the perception of SIBs among policymakers and to the change in the ease of starting SIBs.
– What is the time to market for SIBs? This question speaks to efficiency, which is an important factor because SIBs take a notoriously long time to create.
Overall, I have seen positive evidence for both questions: the rate of adoption is increasing, and the time to market is decreasing.
Update: Today we get another estimate of SIB market size. Bloomberg Businessweek writes: “With more than a dozen states and municipalities putting together deals, including Republican-led Ohio and Democrat-controlled Colorado, the SIB market will grow to $500 million from the current $80 million by the end of 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation forecasts.”
Michael Belinsky 