The Korea Local Administration Review

Is it possible for local governments to develop a collaborative governance (hereafter CB) in which the private sector participates equally and voluntarily in administrative environment in Korea? How does it form and operate? This study focused on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's adoption of the Social Impact Bonds, in which the private sector made initiatives of it and drew collaboration between public and private sectors to solve public problems. The case analysis confirmed that private sectors' expertise, active willingness to solve public problems, and the public sector’s open stance and innovative minds to solve public problems have activated the inherent advantages of CB. In particular, the public sector participated in the pursuit of official authority, official institutions and value neutrality in order to shift the policy paradigm. This change in role can be seen as an innovation of the public sector itself and a strategy of local government to proactively respond to changes. In the process of adoption of Social Impact Bonds, participants demonstrated core aspects of CB to solve public problems while complying with their unique characteristics and roles.