Private Capital for Public Ills in Colombia

This case study is one of two related cases about a Social Impact Bond (SIB) effort in Colombia, with a focus on policy analysis. SIB is a financing mechanism for experimental social programs, with private investors shouldering the financial risk of failure. This case focuses on public policy implications in the story of Instiglio, a nonprofit startup effort of three Harvard Kennedy School graduates to draft an SIB agreement and evaluation design, and structure a payment system. The case invites students consider competing interests of investors and government leaders, and to analyze the difficult task of setting performance measures in that context. The companion case, “Devil in the Details,” explores some of the specific challenges of program development and assessment, with a focus on statistics.

The case is part of a series produced by the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Case Program, hosted by the HKS Strengthening Learning and Teaching Excellence (SLATE) initiative, the world’s largest producer and repository of case studies designed for teaching about how government works and how public policy is made. Each case in the series is designed to train public leaders, and introduces actual policy dilemmas along with data to equip students to learn how to apply the rigor of quantitative analysis in the real world.

This case may be purchased for a nominal fee; registered educators may obtain a free review copy. Online supplemental resources include short free documents and videos on how to teach with the case method, as well as downloadable related tip sheets and questions for class discussion.