Public–Private Partnerships: from Contested Concepts to Prevalent Practice

TLDR

Public–private partnerships are collaborative arrangements between public and non‑public entities that have evolved from a contested concept to a widespread practice worldwide. The article investigates how PPPs have expanded, assesses their strengths and weaknesses, and outlines future prospects, stressing the need for context‑appropriate governance principles. It concludes that we are still in an early learning phase regarding which PPP types fit specific tasks and how to manage them to increase public value.

Abstract

This article explores the current state of knowledge in relation to public–private partnerships (PPPs), taken to mean working arrangements based on a mutual commitment (over and above that implied in any contract) between a public sector organization with any organization outside of the public sector. Since it originally became fashionable over 25 years ago, the concept of PPPs has been strongly contested. However, PPPs are now to be found in the public domain in many countries around the world and their number has been increasing in recent years. This article looks at how this has happened, what have been the strengths and weaknesses of this development and what the future may hold for PPPs. It argues that we are still at an early stage of learning which types of PPP are appropriate for which tasks and at managing PPPs to increase public value. It will be essential to apply principles of good governance to the future development of PPPs — but it will also be necessary to ensure that these principles are genuinely appropriate to the context in which these PPPs are working.