International Studies Reivew Vol. 13 No.2 December 2012

pages:53-86

This paper aims to answer two research questions: First, what
are the sources of weaknesses found in current CSO-government
relationships? Second, how could these weaknesses be
remedied to bring better efficiency in social development assistance
programs? Applying the Complexity Science framework
and Brinkerhoff’s related theoretical model to the field of
social finance for the first time to the best of the authors’
knowledge, this article argues that the implementation of
social finance, generally, and social impact bonds (SIBs), specifically,
can combine to create “smart social capital”—a new
model in which trust is furthered and arguably maximized
between relevant public and/or private sector networks in
the form of stakeholders, through the efficient combination
of shared interests in the form of financial as well as societal
beneficial gains by related stakeholders and the community
at large.