Impact Investment into Social Enterprises and Applicability to Korea

Recently, impact investment has attracted attention all over the world. This is intended to effectively solve problems by combining private capital and various financial techniques with social and environmental needs, as it is recognized that it is difficult to solve social and environmental problems. Impact investment means a mixture of financial, social, and environmental aspects. This refers to an investment focused on such a blended value, through which it simultaneously achieves financial and social values such as return on investment. The purpose of this study is to study whether impact investment, which has become a new issue, is actually applicable in Korea. This study first considers the concept and method of impact investment, and a prior study on social enterprises and impact investment that pursue social values. In particular, after analyzing in detail the social performance-related bonds (SIB) and operational cases, we intend to explore the possible applicability of impact investment to Korea. The results and implications of this study are, first, changes in the government's attitude toward impact finance. The government should entrust innovative public works to market-proven service providers to enhance the professionalism and efficiency of public service projects. Second, the legal system must innovate. Impact investment should provide an institutional foundation to pursue social problem solving simultaneously, not maximizing financial performance. Third, when investing in public works in the private sector, impact investment must clearly demand social performance and clarify the evaluation accordingly. The project execution process should create an impact environment that is more free and active.