The Amagasaki Pilot Social Impact Bond in Japan -Participation of SMEs in Public Markets

Social Impact Bond (SIBs) attracts massive attention recently not only by major enterprises, but by SMEs in Japan to solve the social problems. This paper analyzes the first SIBs case on youth employment support in Amagasaki, Japan as well as the first SIBs case in Augsburg, Germany. Further, it considers the entry of SMEs that are familiar with local fields and circumstances to realize public-private partnerships and examine the possibility of their participating into the SIBs in Japan. SIBs invite the process improvement of the public procurement. Across SIBs, participation of SMEs in solving social problems conforms to the growth strategy of the Japanese government, and as a result to contribute the process improvement of public procurement.