Public-private partnerships as an instrument of new public management

Abstract

Satisfaction of public needs has always been in the public domain, but the inefficiency and the size of public institutions lead to tendency of the involvement of private sector. At the beginning of 1980s a new way of thinking - 'new public management' has been identified as an alternative in provision of public services. New public management is trying to enhance the performance of public sector by adopting private sector management methods. Public-private partnerships, which especially gain on their significance at the beginning of 1990s, represent the instrument of new public management. Public-private partnerships include organisations from public as well as from private sector working together in order to satisfy public needs. For a number of years, developed market economies have been using public-private partnerships as a more efficient and effective way of management in provision of public services in health, defense and infrastructure sectors. In this paper we analyzed the basic models and characteristics of public-private partnerships. We pointed out the obstacles for their implementation, as well as the benefits that come out from their usage. At the end of this paper a short analysis of the possibilities of implementation of public private partnerships in Serbia will be given.