Respondents report survey Public Private Partnerships

Abstract

Public private partnerships (PPP) have become a popular policy instrument in many Western European countries. Governments assume that the involvement of private actors in the provision of services, or in the realization of policy goals will increase quality and provide better value for money. It is believed that more intense co-production between public and private actors will generate better results. In the literature on PPPs, these benefits are typically referred to as ‘added value’ (Osborne 2000; Ghobadian et al. 2004). According to the literature in this area, the main characteristics of PPP are: 1. Mutual coordination of activities and daily routines: co-ordination is essential for any partnership, including public-private ones. The activities of the public and private organizations have to be well coordinated (Mulford and Rogers 1982; Hodge and Greve, 2005) or the desired exchange of information cannot be realized (Savas 2000). 2. A level of shared risk and profit sharing is needed: the co-operation between public and private actors has to result in at least some risk sharing, and if possible, in some level of profit sharing (Huxham and Vangen 2005). Authors point out that profit sharing does not always have to take the form of financial profits. It may be that the private actors have financial profits and the public actors get recognizable societal benefits from the co-operation, for instance a higher quality of service (Audit Commission 2003; Hodge and Greve 2005). 3. A form of organizational arrangement between the partners to enhance the co-operation process (see, for example, Savas 2000; Hodge et al, 2010). Most partnerships are structured around organizational arrangements that are meant to simplify co-ordination and secure the shared risk and profits. These arrangements can take the form of an informal project group, newly established consortiums or other hybrid organizational forms (Waddock 1991; Savas, 2000).