Tuesday, May 17th, 2022, 12:00-13:00 in DEMM seminar room "Giorgio Pizzuto" (via Conservatorio 7, 2nd floor)

 

Title: Why are successful social policy innovations not diffused? A story of barriers in the public sector

Author: Benjamin Le Pendeven - Audencia Business School

 

Abstract: 

Innovation in the public and private sectors faces barriers, both at the experimental and diffusion phases. If the barriers at the first phase are deeply investigated by the academic literature, the second phase is at once understudied and critical for diffusing at a large scale successfully tested innovations. This has even more consequences for social and public sector innovations with the ambition to solve significant social problems. In this article, we study the first eight social programs funded by Social Impact Bonds in five different countries. By conducting 32 interviews with their main stakeholders, we highlight the reasons why those successfully tested social policy-oriented innovations mainly stay at a tiny scale after the experimental phase. Our research suggests a unique contribution for understanding the diffusion barriers of successfully-tested innovations. We highlight seven barriers grouped in two main categories : capacity barriers and willingness barriers. We contribute to the knowledge of innovation diffusion, for private, public and third sector organizations.