Social impact bonds : the securitization of the homeless

Cooper, Christine and Graham, Cameron and Hinick, Darlene (2015) Social impact bonds : the securitization of the homeless. In: 11th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conference 2015, 2015-07-08 - 2015-07-10, Stockholm University.

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Abstract

This paper examines the recent phenomenon of social impact bonds (SIBs). Social impact bonds are an attempt to marketize/financialize to some contemporary, intractable “social problems” (for example, homelessness and criminal recidivism). SIBs rely on a vast array of accounting technologies including budgets, future cash flows, discounting, performance measurement and auditing. As such, they represent a potentially powerful and problematic use of accounting to enact government policy. This paper contains a case study of the most recent in a series of SIBs, the London Homelessness SIB and St Mungo’s, a London-based charitable foundation. The case is designed to enable a critical reflection on the rationalities which underpin the SIB. For this, the paper draws upon Michel Foucault’s work on biopolitics and neo-liberalism. The SIB is thoroughly neoliberal in that it is constructed upon an assumption that there is no such thing as a social problem -- only individuals who fail; it transforms all participants in the bond, except the homeless themselves, into entrepreneurs. The homeless are securitised into the potential future cash flows of investors.

ORCID iDs

Cooper, Christine ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8420-0621, Graham, Cameron and Hinick, Darlene;
  • Item type:Conference or Workshop Item(Paper)
    ID code:58588
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    8 July 2015
    Published
    Keywords:homelessness, social programmes, not-for-profit sector, biopolitics, Foucault, Finance, Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous), SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    Subjects:Social Sciences > Finance
    Department:Strathclyde Business School > Accounting and Finance
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:10 Nov 2016 12:51
    Last modified:18 Jan 2023 13:21
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/58588
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