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Public-Private Partnerships and Hybridity
Abstract
Public-Private partnerships (PPPs) combine the resources of government with those of private agents (businesses or not-for-profit bodies) in order to deliver societal goals. The forms taken by public-private partnerships include the contracting-out of services, the business management of public utilities, and the design of hybrid organizations for risk sharing and co-production between government and private agents. PPPs give rise to a series of ideological and managerial choices. This article has four sections. The first step is to explore the political and theoretical rationales for public-private partnerships. This leads into an analysis of the five types of PPP. The third section of the article discusses the impact of PPPs in terms of cost/quality and organizational hybridity. The final section draws out the main conclusions of the analysis and identifies challenges for the future governance and the management of PPPs.
... Skelcher (2018) discusses the historical trajectory of PPPs, noting that their early forms were relatively straightforward and focused on infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and public buildings. Over time, the scope and complexity of PPPs have expanded, encompassing a wide range of services and sectors [6]. ...
... The PFI model involved private sector financing, construction, and maintenance of public infrastructure, with the government making payments over time based on the performance and availability of the infrastructure. This model demonstrated the potential benefits of PPPs, such as improved project delivery times, cost efficiencies, and enhanced service quality [6]. ...
... Standardization can also reduce the perceived risks associated with data sharing and ensure that all employees understand and adhere to best practices [14]. 6 ...
In today's interconnected world, the collaboration between public and private sectors is crucial for addressing complex challenges such as financial crime, public health crises, and technological advancements. However, the effectiveness of such collaborations hinges significantly on the ability to share data seamlessly and securely. This study explores the impact of regulatory environments and organizational cultures on the implementation and effectiveness of data sharing methods and interoperable technologies in public-private partnerships. Through comprehensive case studies from the pharmaceutical and financial technology industries, this research identifies the key barriers and facilitators to successful data interoperability. By examining diverse regulatory frameworks and cultural dynamics, the study uncovers how these factors either hinder or enhance data sharing efforts. The findings reveal best practices for navigating regulatory complexities and fostering a culture conducive to collaboration, ultimately proposing actionable strategies to improve data interoperability. This research contributes to the broader understanding of how regulatory and cultural contexts shape the landscape of public-private sector cooperation, offering insights for policymakers and industry leaders aiming to optimize collaborative outcomes.
... En su origen más general, una alianza público-privada resulta de la decisión 'make or buy' que enfrentan los estados frente al desafío de la provisión de diversos bienes sociales. Los estados pueden en este sentido elegir producir y proveer estos bienes sociales a través de la propia burocracia estatal (make), o bien elegir la vía indirecta a través de la incorporación de agentes no estatales en el proceso (buy) (Osborne y Gaebler, 1992;Skelcher, 2005). Este último caso, conlleva la necesidad de definir las características que habrá de asumir el modo de 'incorporación' del sector privado, es decir, el esquema de APP. ...
... Este último caso, conlleva la necesidad de definir las características que habrá de asumir el modo de 'incorporación' del sector privado, es decir, el esquema de APP. Como advierte Skelcher (2005), en esta definición intervienen elecciones tanto ideológicas como técnicas relativas a la forma que habrá de asumir la relación entre el Estado y los agentes privados, el grado en que los agentes privados habrán de oficiar de 'sustitutos' del Estado, y el análisis de costos y beneficios de las distintas alternativas (p. 347). ...
... Toda forma de cooperación público-privada en la provisión de bienes sociales supone la hibridación de esquemas de gobernanza que han de conjugar elementos y objetivos de muy distinta naturaleza (Borys y Jemison, 1989;Skelcher, 2005). En la visión de Skelcher (2005), la hibridación supone una tensión fundamental entre el principio de rendición de cuentas (accountability) pública o democrática (inherente al funcionamiento del Estado) y el de 'perspicacia' comercial (propio del sector privado). ...
La investigación se centra en comprender la intersección de dos tendencias: la descentralización y la privatización de la educación. Existe pocos estudios con este enfoque. Este vacío resulta llamativo teniendo en cuenta que la amplia mayoría de los sistemas educativos de la región de América Latina están estructurados, en mayor o menor medida, de forma descentralizada y, a su vez, han sido testigos de una creciente participación del sector privado en la provisión educativa a lo largo de las últimas décadas. De dicha intersección surgen una serie de preguntas que orientan este trabajo, a saber: ¿Cómo se combinan estos dos fenómenos en la práctica? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones de esta combinación para las formas en que cada fenómeno se manifiesta? Y, ¿cuáles son los resultados de esta intersección en términos de acceso, calidad y equidad educativa? Esta investigación pretende cubrir parte del vacío en la literatura a través de la exploración de dichos elementos en el contexto de Colombia con el fin de comprender en profundidad los efectos de la descentralización conjugada con la privatización.
... For that reason, accountability mechanisms are central for ensuring democratic control and safeguarding the legitimacy of governance. In addition, accountability maintains abilities to steer and adapt the functioning of governance (Bovens, 2007;Dubnick and Frederickson, 2011;Skelcher, 2005). To fulfil these functions, parties collaborating in DHRNs need a regime within which accountability can operate. ...
... Governing DHRNs is marked by interdependent partnership and horizontal collaboration. This development has displaced and fragmented traditional hierarchical governance (Frederickson, 1999;Skelcher, 2005). As a consequence, it seems dubious to assume the same level of coherence among parties which could result in an overlapping consensus about an accountability regime (Bovens et al., 2008;Willems and Van Dooren, 2012). ...
... The pressures on establishing accountable governance that we identified in DHRNs have been recognized as characteristic of contemporary network governance beyond this case as well (Bovens, 2007;Skelcher, 2005). The recognizability of these pressures emphasizes that realizing regimes for accountability to function warrants far greater attention in the context of network governance. ...
Current challenges to sustaining public support for health data research have directed attention to the governance of data-intensive health research networks. Accountability is hailed as an important element of trustworthy governance frameworks for data-intensive health research networks. Yet the extent to which adequate accountability regimes in data-intensive health research networks are currently realized is questionable. Current governance of data-intensive health research networks is dominated by the limitations of a drawing board approach. As a way forward, we propose a stronger focus on accountability as learning to achieve accountable governance. As an important step in that direction, we provide two pathways: (1) developing an integrated structure for decision-making and (2) establishing a dialogue in ongoing delib-erative processes. Suitable places for learning accountability to thrive are dedicated governing bodies as well as specialized committees, panels or boards which bear and guide the development of governance in data-intensive health research networks. A continuous accountability process which comprises learning and interaction accommodates the diversity of expectations, responsibilities and tasks in data-intensive health research networks to achieve responsible and effective governance.
... This is especially the case for the organisational spaces in neoliberalist contexts where the public and private sectors now meet to deliver public services, such as education and healthcare (Grossi et al., 2019). Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are one such major hybrid organisational form which incorporates the use of resources and/or structures from both the public and private sectors (Skelcher, 2005;Grossi et al., 2017) and draws on elements of state bureaucracies and/or hierarchies on the one hand and commercial elements on the other hand (Jay, 2013). ...
... So, for example in the case of PPPs, private sector corporate governance structures, which have a narrow focus on the relationship between for-profit corporations and their shareholders, have encroached upon public accountability systems set up to deliver accountability to a much broader range of stakeholders, as illustrated in Shaoul et al. (2012, Figure 1, p. 219). Thus, as a hybrid, a PPP demonstrates tension in its corporate governance and accountability structures (Skelcher, 2005;Smith et al., 2006;Miller et al., 2008;Shaoul et al., 2012;Grossi and Thomasson, 2015;Stafford and Stapleton, 2017). Typically, the organisational form used as the major vehicle for a PPP is a limited liability company, often referred to as the special purpose vehicle (SPV), a shell company which acts as a conduit through which resources pass and around which exist networks of relationships between the public procurer, private sector constructor and operator, their legal advisors and financiers. ...
... Other relevant points include the tension noted by Skelcher (2005) that exists between public accountability and commercial acumen, the way in which the focus shifts from scrutiny of public policy to a judgement of technically appropriate means of performance reporting (Moe, 2001) and the fact that boards are appointed and frequently operate in closed session (Skelcher, 1998). It is hard for public directors to assert the publicness of a hybrid (Ghere, 2001), and this task becomes harder in this type of hybrid SPV where they may be in a minority, as, even though private directors may align with the idea of advancing societal goals, their accountability structures are not designed to meet the needs of public accountability (Skelcher, 2005;Stafford and Stapleton, 2017). ...
Purpose
Contemporary organisational landscapes offer opportunities for hybrids to thrive. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are one thriving hybrid form incorporating the use of resources and/or structures from both public and private sectors. The study examines the impact of such a hybrid structure on governance and accountability mechanisms in a context of institutional complexity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses an approach that draws on institutional logics and hybridity to examine governance arrangements in the PPP policy created for the delivery of UK schools. Unusually, it employs a comparative case study of how four local governments implemented the policy. It draws on a framework developed by Polzer et al. (2017) to examine the level of engagement between multiple logics and hybrid structures and applies this to the delivery of governance and accountability for public money.
Findings
The Polzer et al. framework enables a study of how the nature of hybrids can vary in terms of their governance, ownership and control relations. The findings show how the relationships between levels of engagement of multiple logics and hybrid structures can impact on governance and accountability for public money. Layering and blending combinations led to increased adoption of private sector accountability structures, whilst a hybrid with parallel co-existence of community and market logics delivered a long-term governance structure.
Research limitations/implications
The paper examines the operation of hybrids in a complex education PPP environment in only four local governments and therefore cannot provide representative answers across the population as a whole. However, given the considerable variation found across the four examples, the paper shows there can be significant differentiation in how multiple logics engage at different levels and in varying combinations even in the same hybrid setting. The paper focuses on capital investment implementation and its evaluation, so it is a limitation that the operational stage of PPP projects is not studied.
Practical implications
The findings have political relevance because the two local government bodies with more robust combinations of multiple logics were more successful in getting funds and delivering schools in their geographical areas.
Originality/value
The study extends Polzer et al. 's (2017) research on hybridity by showing that there can be significant differentiation in how multiple logics engage at different levels and in varying combinations even in what was planned to be the same hybrid setting. It shows how in situations of institutional complexity certain combinations of logics lead to differentiation in governance and accountability, creating fragmented focus on the related public accountability structures. This matters because it becomes harder to hold government to account for public spending.
... There are various models of PPP: design and build (DB), design, build, finance and operate (DBFO), build, lease and operate (BLO), build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT), build, own and operate (BOO), lease, own and operate (LOO), and alliance (Bayliss & Van Waeyenberge, 2018;Lohmann & Roetzel, 2014;Trebilcock & Rosenstock, 2015). Additionally, Skelcher (2005), categorizes PPPs into five forms, or types of which are: Public leverage, contracting out and competitive tendering, franchising, joint venture and strategic partnering. ...
... An assessment of the arrangements and conditions of the PPP connotes the tenets of franchising. As indicated earlier, a franchise is characterized by the issuing of license by the state agency involved to the private entity to do business or provide a service on its behalf and it is through the use of user fees that the private company gets its income (Skelcher, 2005). Thus, there appears to be a thin line between contracting out and franchising since the government becomes the "arranger" in both cases. ...
... In summary, it is observed that based on the first objective of this research, the partnership between ISTC and its partners take different forms. These partnerships take the form of strategic partnerships and franchising as espoused by Skelcher (2005). Though under a typical franchise a license is issued, this is not the case of ISTC's PPP. ...
The study sought to examine the complexities involved in the implementation of public–private partnerships in the transport sector using the experience of Intercity STC Coaches Limited and private partners in Ghana. The study seeks to contribute to the literature on public–private partnership by examining the implementation challenges associated with the partnership between a public and private transport entities. An exploratory qualitative design through semi-structured interviews and document reviews is adopted for the study. The paper uses the complexity of joint action as the theoretical framework. The study contends that the presence of a challenge, the threat of a challenge or the quest to realize an untapped opportunity offers the basis for a PPP to kick-start. Despite the ideals, there are challenges which impede the effective operationalization of partnerships. These are discussed with clear policy suggestions to address them.
... There are various models of PPP: design and build (DB), design, build, finance and operate (DBFO), build, lease and operate (BLO), build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT), build, own and operate (BOO), lease, own and operate (LOO), and alliance (Bayliss & Van Waeyenberge, 2018;Lohmann & Roetzel, 2014;Trebilcock & Rosenstock, 2015). Additionally, Skelcher (2005), categorizes PPPs into five forms, or types of which are: Public leverage, contracting out and competitive tendering, franchising, joint venture and strategic partnering. ...
... An assessment of the arrangements and conditions of the PPP connotes the tenets of franchising. As indicated earlier, a franchise is characterized by the issuing of license by the state agency involved to the private entity to do business or provide a service on its behalf and it is through the use of user fees that the private company gets its income (Skelcher, 2005). Thus, there appears to be a thin line between contracting out and franchising since the government becomes the "arranger" in both cases. ...
... In summary, it is observed that based on the first objective of this research, the partnership between ISTC and its partners take different forms. These partnerships take the form of strategic partnerships and franchising as espoused by Skelcher (2005). Though under a typical franchise a license is issued, this is not the case of ISTC's PPP. ...
The study sought to examine the complexities involved in the implementation of public–private partnerships in the transport sector using the experience of Intercity STC Coaches Limited and private partners in Ghana. The study seeks to contribute to the literature on public–private partnership by examining the implementation challenges associated with the partnership between a public and private transport entities. An exploratory qualitative design through semi-structured interviews and document reviews is adopted for the study. The paper uses the complexity of joint action as the theoretical framework. The study contends that the presence of a challenge, the threat of a challenge or the quest to realize an untapped opportunity offers the basis for a PPP to kick-start. Despite the ideals, there are challenges which impede the effective operationalization of partnerships. These are discussed with clear policy suggestions to address them.
... histórico dado no basta, pues, considerar la posición que objetivamente ocupan los hombres en la reproducción material de la sociedad" (Marini, 1999, p. 282), as possibilidades para uma compreensão ampliada e dinâmica da classe estão dadas. Embora não seja o valor do escravo afetado pela sua superexploração, Marini tinha em conta, como Marx, que no processo de subordinação das economias escravistas ao capitalismo de mercado o escravo passava a ser ainda mais explorado, "já que interessa portanto a seu proprietário reduzir os tempos mortos para a produção e fazer coincidir o tempo produtivo com o tempo de existência do trabalhador" (Marini, 1973, p. 14) 11 . Por outro lado, para o assalariado, o acréscimo salarial dos trabalhadores permite entrar diretamente na questão do seu esgotamento do fundo de vida. ...
... Como consequência do mecanismo anterior, torna-se mais difícil divisar para o trabalhador, numa perspectiva marxista, quem são os seus aliados na defesa de seus interesses históricos -mas também seus interesses imediatos como os limites à jornada de trabalho, a preservação de sua saúde e bem-estar, a remuneração vista como "justa" etc. Constantemente, os peões eram instados a fazerem sacrifícios pela existência da empresa. Havia reuniões semanais, mensais, quadrimestrais, entre outras, com chefes de diferentes níveis para apresentação dos indicadores (qualidade, segurança, produtividade, limpeza etc.) e da situação econômica do país, da empresa e da concorrência, dividindo com peões a responsabilidade e preocupação com os lucros dos investidores 11 . Embora não fosse incomum que fizessem perguntas, nenhum dos peões ousava refutar ou se opor aos informes e decisões da chefia. ...
... Na Bolívia, durante a Revolução de 1952, ocorreram ocupações generalizadas de haciendas -sobretudo nas regiões dos valles e do altiplano -por populações e povos indígenas que, assim, forçaram a reforma agrária no país. Desde a promulgação do Decreto Supremo Nº 3464 de 02 de agosto de 1953 até 1993, foram distribuídos 57,3 milhões de hectares de terras no país (Castaños, 2008) 11 . Nas terras altas do ocidente (valles e altiplano) a reforma agrária deu lugar a um processo de parcelamento expressivo da terra, gerando uma estrutura fundiária baseada no minifúndio, enquanto que nas terras baixas do oriente-norte do país se conformou uma estrutura agrária fortemente concentrada, marcada pelo neolatifúndio (VEGA, 2003) 12 . ...
A partir da classificação feita por Silva de “esquerda renovadora” e “esquerda refundadora”, este artigo tem o objetivo de investigar as clivagens entre as esquerdas da Onda Rosa a partir da observação de políticas públicas. Para o autor, a “esquerda refundadora” se destaca pelas políticas de “refundação” do Estado e da sociedade, então caracterizados pelo esgotamento dos modelos socioeconômicos neoliberais. “Esquerda renovadora”, ao contrário, se caracteriza pela “moderação e limitação”, operacionalizando políticas sociais dentro do paradigma neoliberal. Para esta pesquisa, serão instrumentalizadas, como nível de análise, as políticas de agricultura familiar e, a partir delas, observar como este tipo de política é justificada por ambas as esquerdas. O ponto a ser posto em prova é se os programas de agricultura familiar realmente comprovam a lógica das esquerdas refundadoras de política pública como reconhecimento dos direitos do indivíduo e da coletividade e se as esquerdas renovadoras justificam políticas como estratégias de melhoramento social e combate à pobreza. De outra maneira, esta pesquisa coloca em prova as concepções a respeito das “esquerdas” da onda rosa e entende, a partir da questão da agricultura familiar, se a justificativa refundadora à terra está relacionada à uma concepção mais fundamental e deontológica de direitos e de sociedade coletiva do que as justificativas renovadoras dentro da mesma matéria. Para isso, é necessário a seleção dos países a serem investigados: Brasil e Argentina, como esquerdas renovadoras e Venezuela e Bolívia, como esquerdas refundadoras. Em seguida, este trabalho analisa as justificativas viabilizadas, assim como a implementação prática destas políticas nos quatro países – o Programa Federal de Apoyo al Desarrollo Rural Sustentable (PROFEDER), na Argentina; o Programa Apoyo a la Agricultura Familiar Comunitária Sustentable, na Bolívia; o Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (PRONAF), no Brasil e o Programa de Agricultura Familiar y Escolar, na Venezuela.
... As illustrated in Chap. 1, public value-driven performance regimes could capture the increasing concerns of public administration on how to enhance inter-institutional governance initiatives to deliver public value to the administered community OECD, 2016Osborne, 2010). Examples of such settings could include policy networks , network governance , collaborative governance arrangements Emerson et al., 2012b), public-private partnerships (Osborne, 2002;Skelcher, 2005), and other hybrid forms of collaboration (Cepiku, 2016;Skelcher, 2005). Within such inter-institutional settings, several public and private organizations conflate their aims and values with the intent to outline collaborative policies to address shared community problems. ...
... As illustrated in Chap. 1, public value-driven performance regimes could capture the increasing concerns of public administration on how to enhance inter-institutional governance initiatives to deliver public value to the administered community OECD, 2016Osborne, 2010). Examples of such settings could include policy networks , network governance , collaborative governance arrangements Emerson et al., 2012b), public-private partnerships (Osborne, 2002;Skelcher, 2005), and other hybrid forms of collaboration (Cepiku, 2016;Skelcher, 2005). Within such inter-institutional settings, several public and private organizations conflate their aims and values with the intent to outline collaborative policies to address shared community problems. ...
This chapter will show how DPM may provide the actors in a public value-driven performance regime with the methodological framework to implement policy learning for assessing community outcomes, illustrated by different examples. Before presenting the empirical work, the following sections will discuss the main methodological challenges associated with outcome-based performance assessment to set the field for showing how DPM may implement policy learning in public value-driven performance regimes.
... As illustrated in Chap. 1, public value-driven performance regimes could capture the increasing concerns of public administration on how to enhance inter-institutional governance initiatives to deliver public value to the administered community OECD, 2016Osborne, 2010). Examples of such settings could include policy networks , network governance , collaborative governance arrangements Emerson et al., 2012b), public-private partnerships (Osborne, 2002;Skelcher, 2005), and other hybrid forms of collaboration (Cepiku, 2016;Skelcher, 2005). Within such inter-institutional settings, several public and private organizations conflate their aims and values with the intent to outline collaborative policies to address shared community problems. ...
... As illustrated in Chap. 1, public value-driven performance regimes could capture the increasing concerns of public administration on how to enhance inter-institutional governance initiatives to deliver public value to the administered community OECD, 2016Osborne, 2010). Examples of such settings could include policy networks , network governance , collaborative governance arrangements Emerson et al., 2012b), public-private partnerships (Osborne, 2002;Skelcher, 2005), and other hybrid forms of collaboration (Cepiku, 2016;Skelcher, 2005). Within such inter-institutional settings, several public and private organizations conflate their aims and values with the intent to outline collaborative policies to address shared community problems. ...
... Hybridization itself initially has different definitions, including as a quasi-governmental organization but does not fit the traditional organizational definition of government institutions in general (Perry & Rainey, 1988;Seidman, 1975;Skelcher, 1998Skelcher, , 2005, for example in organizations with mixed control modes such as the US Postal Service or Amtrak that get oversight from the appropriation congress but have a board of directors such as a private company. Joldersma and Winter (2002) argues that hybrid organizations are organizations that serve public services that serve the government and other clients in general, including clients based on market conditions. ...
... Minkoff's dual mission approach to hybridity in non-profit organizations is similar to Brandsen et al. (2005) and Evers (2005) who suggest that nonprofit organizations fall into the third sector category, because hybrid organizations inherently tend to contain various missions and values that are connected with the community, market, and megara in running their business. Despite the lack of consensus about the specific definition of hybrid organizations, scientists tend to agree that hybrid organizations contain elements related to sectoral, legal, structural, and / or mission (Evers, 2005;Evers & Laville, 2004;Skelcher, 2005Skelcher, , 2009. And, following Minkoff (2002), hybridization reflects the organization's adaptive response to environmental uncertainty so it must always be ready to survive. ...
This paper was aimed at revealing the Egyptian Government's intervention in the management of Al-Azharwaqf. The data was collected by interviewing officials at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt, officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Education, academics and Waqf researchers in Egypt. The results of this study indicated that Egyptian Government intervened and took over the management of Al-Azharwaqf by issuing laws related to waqf and its management from 1923 to 1971. The impact of the takeover of Al-Azharwaqf management by the State also made Al-Azhar was no longer economically independent and was held hostage by the government.
... The goal of the PPP is to join the resources of the public sector and private partners (companies or non-profit organisations) by means of medium-to long-term contracts with social objectives, for public infrastructure and/or services (Skelcher, 2005; World Bank PPP Knowledge Lab 3 ). Most researchers adopt a wide definition of PPP as a form of collaboration between the public and private sectors (D'Alessandro et al., 2014). ...
... Il PPP punta a unire le risorse del settore pubblico con quelle degli attori privati (imprese o enti senza scopo di lucro) attraverso accordi contrattuali a medio-lungo termine, al fine di realizzare obiettivi sociali, per la fornitura di infrastrutture e/o servizi pubblici (Skelcher, 2005; World Bank PPP Knowledge Lab 3 ). ...
Public investments of greater complexity, particularly urban and
suburban infrastructure, are increasingly being carried out, both
internationally and nationally, through public-private partnerships
(PPPs).
The development of the legal concept of partnership in recent
years has been fostered, on the one hand, by the rapid evolution of
legislation; on the other, by the ability of this type of projects, often
innovative and with long-term projection, to attract international
investors and private capital of significant size.Risk mitigation and comparability of initiatives are factors in attracting capital.
... PPPs also imply mutual coordination of activities and procedures aimed at an optimal allocation of risks (Steijn et al., 2011). PPPs are considered hybrid organizational forms (Skelcher, 2009) embodying different logics in terms of ethos and values (Shaoul et al., 2012), and specific mechanisms of governance, accountability and control (Broadbent et al., 2008;Erkkilä, 2007;Mulgan, 2000). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to the management control systems (MCS) changes in public-private partnerships (PPSs) by developing a conceptual archetype explaining the relationship between trust and MCSs in PPPs, and highlighting how this relationship may evolve over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a longitudinal case study methodology focusing on a hospital built and operated under a project finance deal. The methods adopted include semistructured interviews, direct observation and internal documentation analysis. We conducted 15 semistructured interviews from 2019 to 2021. In analyzing different documents and interviews, we triangulated data to ensure solid interpretation.
Findings
The case shows how trust can take different configurations depending on the type of MCS used. The results highlight how different patterns of MCSs, about trust, can be combined to govern PPPs. The case also shows the temporal dynamics of how MCS and trust evolve at different organizational levels and how bureaucratic control matched with contractual trust and trust-based control matched with competence trust can coexist at different times and organizational levels.
Practical implications
Managers involved in PPPs will be aware of the role of different types of trust in shaping and managing the relationship between partners at different organizational levels. Furthermore, the findings could help policymakers to adopt more informed decisions and to promote practice-based trust at various organizational levels of PPPs.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a management control archetype based on bureaucracy- and trust-based patterns concerning the level of programmability of tasks, as well as defined risks.
... Public-private partnerships (often abbreviated with PPPs) include a range of collaborations, with contracting-out of services, franchising, business management of public utilities, joint ventures, as well as the design of hybrid organizations for risk sharing and co-production between government and private agents. In hybridity, there is a bidirectional impact where business models are transported into the public sphere and public issues are transferred to business goals [138]. Although there are some ideas to formulate PPPs and make use of hybridity on the fronts of robotics [121] and AI [12,162], most ventures and theorizing has focused on having the main responsibility in public or in private hands [3,20,31,150]. ...
This paper delves into the complexities of global AI regulation and governance, emphasizing the socio-economic repercussions of rapid AI development. It scrutinizes the challenges in creating effective governance structures amidst the AI race, considering diverse global perspectives and policies. The discourse moves beyond specific corporate examples, addressing broader implications and sector-wide impacts of AI on employment, truth discernment, and democratic stability. The analysis focuses on contrasting regulatory approaches across key regions—the United States, European Union, Asia, Africa, and the Americas and thus highlighting the variations and commonalities in strategies and implementations. This comparative study reveals the intricacies and hurdles in formulating a cohesive global policy for AI regulation. Central to the paper is the examination of the dynamic between rapid AI innovation and the slower pace of regulatory and ethical standard-setting. It critically evaluates the advantages and drawbacks of shifting regulatory responsibilities between government bodies and the private sector. In response to these challenges, the discussion proposes an innovative and integrated regulatory model. The model advocates for a collaborative network that blends governmental authority with industry expertise, aiming to establish adaptive, responsive regulations (called “dynamic laws”) that can evolve with technological advancements. The novel approach aims to bridge the gap between rapid AI advancements in the industry and the essential democratic processes of law-making.
... There exists a large knowledge base on PPPs. Scholarly works on PPPs have largely focused attention on introduction and working of PPPs (Broadbent & Laughlin, 2003;Skelcher, 2005;Engel, Fisher & Galetovic, 2008;Wettenhall, 2003;Dewulf, Blanken & Bult-Spiering, 2012;Zhao, Liu, Sing, Jin &Ginige, 2021), privatisation and PPPs Zhao et al., 2021). Another focus of studies on PPP has been governance matters (Stoker, 1998;Pongsiri, 2002;Börzel & Risse, 2005;Forrer, Kee, Newcomer & Boyer, 2010;Brinkerhoff & Brinkerhoff, 2011;Vining & Boardman, 2008;Hodge & Greve, 2010b;Nduhura et al., 2020). ...
Over the years the unsolicited PPP proposals also known as contractor facilitated financing proposal are gaining momentum. The purpose of this paper was to explore the practice of procuring unsolicited bids for PPPs from an international perspective to inform best practices for adoption in developing countries that are witnessing increasing offers from USP proponents. Existing literature acknowledges that unsolicited proposals (USPs) are largely unacceptable in traditional procurement but are acceptable in the environment of PPPs. While USPs are acceptable they have remained under researched as guidance on procedure for their management, remains relatively absent and at times shallow in national PPP policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. Based on a systematic review of literature, the study provides guidance on how to manage USPs in developing countries that are experiencing a rise in PPPs and USPs.
... Public-private partnerships (PPP) is a multifaceted phenomenon, referring to a situation where governments combine their resources with private sector organizations in order to deliver societal goals (Skelcher 2005). On a very broad level, PPP involves different types of short-term and long-term interactions between the public and private sectors that structure service provision in a range of areas from neighborhood safety to space exploration. ...
Public-private partnership (PPP) is a multifaceted phenomenon with a long and rich history. The chapter provides a short overview of the main PPP types and how the different kinds of public-private interactions structure service provision. The chapter will also look at how the concept of PPP has evolved over time and what are some the emerging issues likely to shape the PPPs in service provision in years to come. The focus of the chapter is primarily on the Western context.
... For example, economists emphasize economic relationships, while political scientists and public administration scholars emphasize political and governance relationships. Skelcher (2009) identifes fve forms of PPPs: public leverage, contracting out, franchising, joint ventures, and strategic partnering. ...
Public-private partnership (PPP) has found itself in Public Policy in Africa both as a process and an outcome of a public sector reforms policy. In either case, it has gained much currency in Public Policy Practice in various sectors across Africa. In whichever case, it has mainly been used to either reverse the poor performance or jumpstart a non-performing sector in Africa with mixed results. In some sectors, privatization has been used synonymously with PPP. This has prompted several questions: What does PPP mean, and how is it understood in African public policy? What are the PPP policies that work and which do not? Why have some policies succeeded in some sectors/countries and failed in others? This chapter attempts to address these questions by looking at the conceptualization of PPP, PPP performance in various sectors, emphasizing the Water Sector in Africa, and the challenges to implementing PPP in Africa.
... Such a description of differences between public sector and private sector organizations might give the impression that there is a dichotomy between the two. Several authors warn against adopting such a position, which is useful for normative discussions but less so for descriptive purposes (Bozeman, 1987;Dahl & Lindblom, 1953;Geuss, 2001;Rainey & Chun, 2007;Skelcher, 2005). In practice, there is a continuum between the two, as there are several patterns of government-market interrelations (a point already made by Dahl and Lindblom; see Rainey, 1997, p. 65). ...
Hybridity has become a widely-used concept in public management theory and practice. Yet, there is limited insight in what constitutes a hybrid organization. This article argues that it is not enough to say an organization is hybrid; you need to say how an organization is hybrid, as organizations can mix the characteristics of state and market on several dimensions and with differing intensities. They all have, as it were, a distinctive hybrid thumbprint, which can influence an organization's performance and hence the quality of its service provision. Therefore, a model is presented to visualize this unique thumbprint.
... The third governance mode is market governance, also known as new public management (NPM) or public-private partnerships (Pierre and Peters, 2000;Arnouts et al., 2012;Driessen et al., 2012;Skelcher, 2005). Market governance focusses on the introduction of management concepts from private companies into public policy. ...
The recently published EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 emphasizes nature’s benefits to humans. In line with wider shifts in nature conservation discourses in many European countries, moving from nature’s intrinsic value towards its instrumental values, the EU strategy strongly focuses on a ‘Natural capital’ view. In this context of a European wide search for business opportunities and societal engagement in nature conservation, this article investigates efforts from Dutch governments to strengthen the link between nature conservation and society. Over the past 10 years, policy responsibilities for nature conservation in the Netherlands have been decentralized from the national level to the twelve provinces, who have employed a variety of approaches to stimulate societal engagement in nature conservation.
Through discourse analysis, we show how the previously hegemonic “Ecology First” discourse – a hierarchical mode of governance with a strong focus on intrinsic values – has transgressed towards a more flexible and adaptive "Partnership for Nature" discourse, with a strong focus on aligning with local stakeholders through network governance. In addition, we describe the emergence of three new discourses: a “Green Economy” discourse, capitalizing on ecosystem services to unleash new financial resources; a “Relational Nature” discourse with a strong focus on people’s connections to nature; and a “Democratic Nature” discourse focusing on nature’s intrinsic and relational values combined with a mosaic governance approach. While the EU Biodiversity Strategy focus on natural capital aligns very well with the Dutch Green Economy discourse, the EU strategy gives little attention to the relational and democratic dimensions of societal engagement.
Based on our analysis, we show that changing modes of governance relate to changes in values of nature. Government’s need for new conservation partners requires opening up for new values of nature. In addition, changing values of nature require a change in governance structures to allow new actors to participate and contribute. The increasing focus on natural capital and green economy at the European level may be a first step in such diversification. However, we argue that Europe needs to develop additional strategies beyond instrumental values, to allow for further diversification of values and include all stakeholders from society.
... They defined PPPs as "cooperation agreements between a public authority and the private sector to provide public service". A review of literature on PPPs has unveiled scholars such as Bovaird (2004), Skelcher (2005), Klijn and Teisman (2003), Hodge and Greve (2007), and Wettenhall (2010) who define PPPs as interorganisational arrangements that combine resources such as skills and knowledge from a public sector organisation with a private sector organisation, in order to deliver societal goods. Although there are varying theoretical perspectives underpinning PPPs, scholars generally refer to PPP as a hybrid organisational arrangement that has characteristics of both private and public sectors. ...
The article illustrates how the private-public-led urban development disenfranchised Ruwa residents’ rights to control the planning of their local environments and affordable access to basic public amenities and services in their town. Ruwa was one of the first postcolonial towns in Zimbabwe to emerge and develop using the private-public approach. The study uses Henri Lefebvre’s notion of the ‘right to the city’ as analytical lens. Lefebvre presents a vision for urban areas, in which residents manage urban space for themselves, beyond the control of private capital. In the same vein, this article argues that, although the private-public partnership approach was instrumental in the development of Ruwa Town, residents were left out of decision-making processes, yet they were the major stakeholders in the development process. Residents should take charge of development processes in their areas through grassroots participation. The study used mixed research tools which drew data from primary documents, statistical records, and interviews with various stakeholders of Ruwa Town development.
... In recent years, novel forms of private-public collaborations have emerged, reshaping the traditional view of the roles of the two sectors in the economy (Skelcher, 2007;Kivleniece and Quelin, 2012). The study of these forms of public-private interaction has gained momentum due to their unique nature and contribution to both private and social value creation (Kivleniece and Quelin, 2012;Mascarenhas et al., 2018;Perkmann et al., 2013) and has also raised the need to study intermediary organisations, external institutions that support companies or the public sector in their innovative activities and become especially useful in the support of public-private mechanisms (Saad, 2004;Alexander and Philippe-Martin, 2013) and in their goals of helping realise sustainable innovation projects (Orecchini et al., 2012). ...
... We followed Eisenhardt's (1989) claim that linking to existing theory enhances the internal validity and level of theory building from case research. We considered public and quasi-public management theory because our case shared cosmetic similarity to that described in the public-private partnership' literature' (Skelcher, 2005). Consistent with Gillett and Tennent's (2018) study of relationships between public authorities and private business, we identified "hybridity" and "institutional logics" as two applicable concepts, which were also compatible with one another to enhance the explanatory power of our research. ...
Purpose
Literature seldom admits the importance of historical contingency and politics in the creation of hybrid organisations. Nevertheless, the circumstances of their creation play a pivotal role in the subsequent operation, priorities and success of these prolific organisations. Through a single case study, this paper aims to explore the connection between the multiple and concurrent crises that created London Transport and the subsequent balance of its institutional logics.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study uses in-depth data collection from multiple archival and public sources to offer quantitative and qualitative analysis of the priorities, logics and services offered by London Transport before and after its transition from a private to a hybrid organisation.
Findings
Providing London’s transport via a quasi-autonomous non-governmental monopoly was justified as being more efficient than competition. However, by applying accounting ratios to the archival records from London Transport, the authors find that there were few decisive efficiencies gained from amalgamation. Instead, the authors argue that the balance of institutional logics within the new, unified organisation showed a political response outwardly addressing market failure but primarily concerned with marginalising democratic control. This reality was obscured behind the rhetoric of rationality and efficiency as politically neutral justifications for creating a public service monopoly.
Originality/value
This paper challenges supposedly objective systems for judging the effectiveness of “hybrid” organisations and offers an alternative political and historical perspective of the reasons for their creation. The authors suggest that London Transport’s success in obscuring its enduring market-based institutional logics has wider resonance in the development of municipal capitalism.
... Modern economic relationships are supported by neoliberal assumptions that sustain administrative reforms in governments and involve a governance system with interdependence between actors (Gruening, 2001;Skelcher, 2005;Velotti, Botti & Vesci, 2012). Organizational arrangements between public and private organizations can be justified by the need for investments in view of the state budget limitations for maintaining public services. ...
Resumo A Copa do Mundo de 2014 reuniu investimentos de aproximadamente 24 bilhões de reais para a construção ou adequação de aeroportos, arenas esportivas, portos e mobilidade urbana no Brasil por meio de parcerias público-privadas. O artigo objetiva analisar as parcerias entre o Estado e a iniciativa privada nos investimentos para a Copa de 2014 e discutir os conflitos de interesse e corrupção impulsionados pela formação de redes. Com base na sociologia estrutural dos relacionamentos, construímos uma representação gráfica da rede de investimentos e as posições de centralidade, proximidade e intermediação de 446 atores envolvidos nesse evento esportivo. Os resultados mostram que, nesse arranjo organizacional, os entes públicos assumem diferentes papéis na organização dos serviços públicos licitados - a Infraero é o ator público mais poderoso na rede, seguida por outras organizações de destaque, como BNDES e CEF. Além disso, a pesquisa identificou 7 empresas privadas envolvidas na operação Lava-Jato. A pesquisa contribui para evidenciar a composição da rede de investimentos e possibilitar que a sociedade e os governos considerem as parcerias público-privadas no contexto de ética, conflitos de interesse e corrupção que podem emergir desses relacionamentos.
... In the last few decades, PPP has emerged as quasi-market organisational and system form of governance regime. It refers to a cooperative combination of resources between state and private sector (businesses or NPOs) to deliver public goods and services for social purposes [1][2][3] . PPP arrangements cover the design, financing, construction, and operation of public utilities. ...
... In recent years, novel forms of private-public collaborations have emerged, reshaping the traditional view of the roles of the two sectors in the economy (Skelcher, 2007;Kivleniece and Quelin, 2012). The study of these forms of public-private interaction has gained momentum due to their unique nature and contribution to both private and social value creation (Kivleniece and Quelin, 2012;Mascarenhas et al., 2018;Perkmann et al., 2013) and has also raised the need to study intermediary organisations, external institutions that support companies or the public sector in their innovative activities and become especially useful in the support of public-private mechanisms (Saad, 2004;Alexander and Philippe-Martin, 2013) and in their goals of helping realise sustainable innovation projects (Orecchini et al., 2012). ...
... Many public-private partnerships (PPPs) are contributing to the distribution of meals to school children in the US, but in India, the number of PPP initiatives is significantly less. The term PPP includes non-government agencies such as NGOs, the corporate sector, partnership firms, individuals, and community-based establishments (Skelcher, 2005). ...
For the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more challenging for India and other countries such as the United States to provide meals to students mainly because of their schools having to be shut down frequently and unpredictably due to the number of daily infections and the severity of the situation as a whole. Established to address the lack of food security and safety for starving families, India's government-led Midday Meal Programme (MDMP) is the world's largest school meal service programme, followed in second place by its US counterpart, the National School Lunch Programme (NSLP). The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has issued directives to state governments to look into the supply of food grains or deposit funds into the bank accounts of the students' parents to ensure continued supply of food, especially in the event of lockdowns. However, many states in India have not been able to fully implement the MDMP; in contrast, the Federal government in the United States has ensured that school meals reached children in need during lockdowns. This article presents a comparative analysis of the meal service programmes being administered in both countries and how India could adopt the methods being used in the US. The authors also put forward other possible solutions as to how policymakers and practitioners in India can enhance food security for families in need.
... As outlined above, governments around the world have sought to blur the distinction between private, public and not-for-profit sector organizations, creating hybrid contexts as a means of addressing pressing social issues and encouraging the introduction of private sector practices to improve organizational performance in the delivery of traditionally public services (Brandsen & Karre, 2011;Brandsen, van de Donk & Putters, 2005;Skelcher, 2005;Smith, 2010). Below, we outline how contextual hybridity can be conceptualized in terms of the mix dimensions of market authority (competition) and political authority (ownership, funding and control), which can have direction and scale. ...
Employing a configurational approach we explore how “hybrid context” shapes organizations’ adoption, and performance implications, of management practice. We do because hybrid contexts have been a policy aim of many governments seeking to blurr the distinction between the public, private and not‐for‐profit sectors. To conceptualize hybrid contexts we employ the dimensions of market authority and (the multiple) political authority. Employing data from UK care homes, our findings suggest that: (i) the adoption, and performance effects, of management practices are conditioned by dimensions of hybrid context; (ii) there is significant variation across the configurations in terms of the mix of management practices that lead to high and low performance; and (iii) there is a high degree of symmetry between high and low performance, with good management practices being a necessary condition for high performing as compared to low performing organizations.
... In this study, the provision of public services is defined as the direct implementation of public services by nonprofit organizations. Various forms of the relationship between governments and nonprofit organizations exist, including contracting-out (Skelcher 2007). When the government contracts out to nonprofit organizations, nonprofit organizations often receive government funding. ...
This study innovates by introducing a conceptual distinction between the provision of public services and the receipt of government funding. The study also provides empirical analysis to show that public service provision, independent of government funding, is associated with greater nonprofit advocacy. There are implications for previous studies of nonprofit advocacy, our understanding of the mechanism of nonprofit advocacy, and the role that organizational mission may play in leading organizations to engage in advocacy. Previous studies exploring the effect of government funding on nonprofit advocacy have perceived the provision of public services as being identical to the receipt of government funding. In contrast, our analysis distinguishes between providing public services and receiving government funding. Empirically, the study also uses survey questions differentiating the two in the JIGS international datasets to investigate the relationship. This study examines the effect of the provision of public services by nonprofit organizations on nonprofit advocacy in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the USA. We conducted a logistic regression analysis using nonprofit advocacy as the dependent variable. The analysis revealed two key points. First, public service alone and distinct from government funding enhances nonprofit advocacy. Second, public service provision had positive effects on advocacy, not only in the USA but also in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, which each feature a different institutional context. In conclusion, we suggest that organizational mission could be a more important driver of nonprofit advocacy than previous studies have found.
What do frontline social service providers do during client interactions when they lack adequate formal organizational resources to respond to clients' needs? To answer this question, this Element presents two large-scale qualitative studies of Israeli frontline providers of social services. Drawing on interviews of public-sector workers (Study 1, N=214), it introduces a widespread phenomenon, where the vast majority of frontline workers regularly provide a large range of informal personal resources (IFRs) to clients. Study 2 (N=84) then compares IFR provision between workers from the public, nonprofit and private sectors. The comparative analysis demonstrates how workers' rationale for providing personal resources to clients is shaped by particular role perceptions embedded in values, norms and behavioral expectations that vary by employment sector. The Element concludes by presenting ramifications of the phenomenon of IFR provision in terms of citizens' wellbeing, social inequality, gender relations and the future of work in public administration.
Przedmiotem rozważań podejmowanych w publikacji jest problematyka samozarządzania w strukturach organizacyjnych instytucji publicznych oraz wykorzystywania alternatywnych form dostarczania usług publicznych, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem tych, które angażują w te procesy samych obywateli. Jej celem jest przede wszystkim usystematyzowanie wiedzy w tych dwóch obszarach, zdefiniowanie powiązanych z nimi podstawowych pojęć i procesów oraz klasyfikacja opisywanych rozwiązań. Opisane na kartach książki zagadnienia nie były do tej pory kompleksowo analizowane przede wszystkim w literaturze krajowej, ale również międzynarodowej. Za nowatorskie należy uznać: — propozycje związane z typologią samoobsługi; — interesujące poznawczo zestawienie cech charakterystycznych modeli świadczenia usług publicznych; — szczegółowe rozważania na temat samoorganizacji i samoświadczenia usług publicznych w praktyce. Publikacja adresowana jest do szerokiego grona odbiorców. Po pierwsze, do środowiska praktyków z sektora publicznego (przedstawicieli władz oraz pracowników administracji publicznej); po drugie, do przyszłych praktyków – studentów wybranych kierunków szkół wyższych; po trzecie zaś, do mieszkańców jako prosumentów usług publicznych.
Despite reforms seeking greater governance over provision of public goods, difficulties in ensuring accountability in hybrid schemes persist. This study investigates the relationship between the regulatory framework and the effectiveness of road concessions in four Latin American countries – Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru – to find a governance mechanism that explains variability of performance results. The study was based on evidence from a nested design containing a quantitative analysis of 77 highway concessions from the 4 countries using a comparative-institutional approach and in-depth tracing 2 case studies using original qualitative data. Findings have important implications for institutional innovations in public administration.
Collaboration between governments and non-state actors has emerged as the dominant mode of policy making to address a wide range of public and global health issues, particularly via public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder platforms. Despite its paradigmatic status in contemporary health governance, political claims and promises of partnership approaches as more effective than state regulation have received limited attention. This study addresses this gap by tracing negotiations over a calorie reduction ‘pledge’ within the Public Health Responsibility Deal: a public-private partnership between the UK Department of Health, food industry and civil society organisations focusing on obesity policy. It demonstrates how political claims-making by the Department of Health that a public-private partnership as an effective substitute for legislation, contrasted with protracted and conflictual negotiations with food industry business associations. Employing Erving Goffman's distinction between frontstage and backstage interaction and the concept of informal governance, this study traces a shift to informal back stage governance as a mechanism to cope with acute tensions between economic interests and nutrition policy goals. The study illustrates how this shift to the back stage had substantive public health implications, privileging commercial sector perspectives and marginalising civil society participation. Informalization served to reframe calorie reduction from industry-focused to personal responsibility for lifestyle behaviours, in the process reducing its effectiveness. The results suggest that, while partnership and multi-stakeholder approaches are widely promoted as a legitimate tool in health governance, visible tensions between commercial sector and public health interests challenge political claims about public-private collaboration as consensus-oriented and effective. Informal governance, when used as a coping mechanism to manage tensions public health and commercial sector interests, may be symptomatic of wider dysfunctions and conflicts of interest in partnership approaches. This suggests that there may be limited scope for effective policy innovations where commercial sector actors perceive core interests as threatened.
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a tool for promoting cooperation between the government and the private sector, especially for managing and developing public infrastructure and providing public services. Sharing a common goal, information, and risks, and building trust, mutual relationships, and consensus are identified as the major processes for successfully implementing PPP initiatives. The study uses a qualitative approach to analyzing two PPP projects in Bangladesh, of which one was successful and the other not. Evidence from the study shows a positive relationship between the processes and performance in the selected cases. The findings also reveal that a successful partnership based on a long-term infrastructure contract requires process management strategies.
Inspired by the new public management (NPM) philosophy, public sector institutions have engaged private companies by outsourcing non-core services for improved service delivery, lowering government expenditure, and creating opportunities for employment. There is evidence suggesting that the public sector has witnessed industrial conflicts occasioned by labour unrest among outsourced workers. This paper explores how the employees of contract companies perceive outsourcing and how outsourcing has affected them. Using a non-probabilistic sampling technique, the study mixes both qualitative and quantitative techniques to show that the outsourced workers do not see outsourcing in good light. The viewpoint of participants revealed that the outsourced workers were not pleased with the condition of work under different management. These findings have significant implications for broadening the understanding of the plight of the outsourced workers in the public sector. This study has raised important questions about the nature of outsourcing in the public sector and aroused the consciousness that the challenge facing outsourced workforce persists despite the premium placed on NPM in literature. The study, therefore, recommends that the condition of service of outsourced workers in South Africa’s public departments be given due attention to forestall undesirable outcomes.
Previous research has argued that public–private partnerships (PPPs) need collaborative interorganisational relationships (IORs) in order to deliver synergistic benefits: combined benefits that are greater than the sum of which each partner could have achieved alone. In contrast, this study of the Punjab Education Foundation's assisted school PPPs has found that despite the absence of many of the indicators of collaboration, the partnerships have delivered some synergistic benefits. This article explores how this has been achieved and highlights the importance of ‘cooperative IORs' in the assisted school partnerships. These findings thus question the necessity for collaboration in PPPs. They also suggest that a binary distinction between contractual and collaborative relationships in PPPs—prominent in the existing PPP literature—needs to be reconsidered. The article does not aim to decisively refute a body of existing research based on case study findings but rather questions some of the conclusions of this body of research, which seem to be worthy of further consideration.
Esta obra pretende refletir sobre o Brasil que queremos em um horizonte de vinte anos. Comprometido com a efetivação do SUS e a melhoria da saúde pública brasileira, o livro discute temas como projeções do perfil epidemiológico do país, organização e gestão dos serviços de saúde. Para identificar tendências, construir indicadores e intervir na realidade, os autores utilizam as ferramentas da prospecção estratégica. “Prospectar o futuro é ter um programa de ação. É criar elementos para a articulação e indução de políticas econômicas e sociais, no interesse do desenvolvimento com equidade, fomentando o acesso e a inclusão de camadas excluídas, expandindo e assegurando direitos sociais às significativas parcelas da população que permanecem marginalizadas”, explicam os organizadores. “Tomando a realidade atual como ponto de partida e a materialização das aspirações como ponto de chegada, torna-se possível projetar futuros favoráveis ao desenvolvimento econômico e social, dos quais faz parte um patamar mais elevado de gasto público em saúde, compatível com a universalização do acesso, há tanto anunciada”. O livro integra um conjunto de publicações resultantes da iniciativa Brasil Saúde Amanhã, rede multidisciplinar de pesquisa, coordenada pela Fiocruz, com apoio do Ministério da Saúde.
Building on recent works that stress the importance of stakeholder engagement in partnerships, we propose a novel benchmarking framework for the evaluation of public–private partnerships. This framework describes mutuality and the preservation of organisational identity as the ideal characteristics of partnerships because they, in turn, encourage stakeholder support for public–private partnerships. Applying this framework to infrastructure public–private partnerships in Ireland, we note that mutual accountability has been weakened following the financial crisis. Meanwhile, consultation with clients such as key public–private partnership stakeholders, which would help articulate organisational identities, remains patchy across the education, justice and health public–private partnership that we investigate. Nonetheless, there are sectoral differences. In education, consultation centres on school principals while ignoring teaching staff and trade unions. In justice, attention is focused primarily on judges. Similarly, in health sector public–private partnerships, there is a strong focus on clinicians. Overall, private sector-driven consultation efforts are primarily pragmatic, with a focus on preventing delays and the dissatisfaction of key clients who could prevent future projects from materialising. We suggest that the combination of this calculated approach to consultation, together with the delegation of public–private partnership contracting to an arm’s-length government agency, is likely to promote a similar depoliticisation of Irish public–private partnerships as has been observed in other countries. We argue that the potentially harmful stakeholder disengagement that this might encourage can be addressed through a concerted set of measures focusing on improved transparency of decision-making, as well as frameworks that mandate client and public consultation.
Points for practitioners
Research has highlighted the importance of mutual accountability and the preservation of organisational identity in ensuring that public–private partnerships attract public participation and receive public approval. We investigate public–private partnerships in education, justice and health in Ireland, a country that is widely considered an exemplary public–private partnership practitioner. We observe that consultation by private sector public–private partnership participants with client organisations in these sectors is largely motivated by a desire to prevent hold-ups and secure future business rather than seeking to engage with a broad range of users and stakeholders. Together with the existing lack of evidence of benefits from public–private partnerships, this situation is likely to lead to dissatisfaction with the policy. Indeed, political parties critical of public–private partnerships have been able to significantly increase their share of the vote in a recent national election. Our conclusion is that such dissatisfaction is avoidable if the Irish government improves transparency around public–private partnership decision-making while strengthening requirements for public and client consultation.
The purpose of this paper is to explore how localized (organization-level) actors of policy initiatives that are inspired by neoliberal ideologies use management accounting and control practices. Specifically, it addresses the operational stages of a case study Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract within the United Kingdom's (UK's) transport sector of roads for embedding government objectives in the underlying project road.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts Dean's (2010) analytics of government to unpack the accounting-based control practices within the case study contract in order to articulate how, at the micro level, the government's objective of improving road-users' safety is enacted, modified and maintained through such regimes.
Findings
Drawing on a content-based analysis of UK government PFI policy and extensive case study-specific documents, together with interviews and observations, this research provides theoretical insights about how control practices, at a distance without direct intervention, function as forms of power for government for shaping the performance of the PFI contractor. The authors find that the public sector's accounting control regimes in the case study project have a constraining effect on “real partnership working” between the government and private contractors and on the private sector's incentive to innovate.
Cultural Heritage-Management (CHM) in Italy appears to chronically suffer from resources fragmentation. The aim of this chapter is to highlight the need for a value co-creation logic based on resource integration in CHM to improve awareness and involve citizens, organizations and other stakeholders in the cultural heritage preservation and enhancement activities. The methodological approach adopted is an integration among Service-Dominant-logic (S-DL) and Service-Science (SS), within the general framework of the Viable-Systems-Approach (VSA). By shifting focus from the objects of exchange to the relations among parties, S-DL and SS emphasize the importance of collaboration in market interaction. VSA integrates the two perspectives within the structure-system paradigm explaining how collaboration among viable systems takes place. On the basis of the proposed integrated perspective a Service-Based-Systems approach is defined that allows developing a model for CHM based on a value co-creation logic. The authors argue that, to implement an effective co-creation, actors should be linked as resource integrators within a network relationship and share a governance approach inspired cooperating principles as postulated by the VSA consonance model. The chapter provides a conceptual framework of reference for integrating the wide variety of resources needed for an effective management approach to cultural heritage preservation and enhancement. This approach requires a cultural change in CHM organizations in order to effectively exploit: opportunities of a co-creation logic oriented to integrate multi-disciplinary; multi-professional resources; capabilities and competences. By adopting the VSA consonance framework, the authors highlight the relational conditions for resource integration in a Cultural Heritage Territorial System model on the basis of a value co-creation logic.
Definitions of social enterprise and hybrid organizations are compatible and allow application to a variety of organizational forms. We analyse the not-for-profit enterprise formed specifically to deliver the regional element of a global mega-sporting event: The 1994 FIFA (soccer) World Cup. The organization planned a sporting spectacle with commercial objectives to provide long-term benefits for society and a short-term economic boost.
This longitudinal case traces the evolution of the organization and its emergent institutional complexity as it aligned commercial and societal goals.
This study provides new insight into current and emerging supply chain approaches and related power relations deriving from public procurement processes within Local Authorities (LAs). Drawing on a mixed-method empirical research (involving data from LAs across the Yorkshire and Humber region of the United Kingdom) this research examines stakeholder pressures, paying particular attention to principal-agent and dependency relationships between public sector and private companies in public procurement projects. Resource Dependency Theory is used as the theoretical framework to support the study. The paper presents and critically evaluates across a set of dimensions, four models of supply chain archetypes deriving from the implementation public procurement projects. These archetypes identify key stakeholders and determine power relations between main contractors, sub-contractors, government agencies and LAs for the delivery of public sector projects. The research carried out in this paper can inform practice, policy and research in aiding public organisations such as LAs in the design of projects before the procurement stage. Also, the research provides useful insight on how the procurement process can serve as a mechanism for LAs to manage activities of agents in order to achieve a range of objectives.
Through the lens of paradoxes, this essay understands China's COVID‐19 responses, focusing on normal and non‐normal governance, competing values, expertise and politics, centralization and decentralization, public and private, and technology and institution. Preliminary lessons are drawn regarding pandemic governance: embedding resilience into all aspects of governance; developing a public value framework for pandemic governance and improving individuals' ethical capacity; institutionalizing policy capacity on pandemic governance and requiring expertise in relevant positions; balancing centralized coordination and decentralized responses with a stable and ready‐to‐work commanding center; enabling businesses and nonprofits for pandemic governance but regulating them appropriately; and enacting technologies to revolutionize pandemic governance with proper institutional safeguards.
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In recent years increasing dependencies between public and private organizations lead to a growing need for public-private partnerships. However, cultural and institutional differences between the public and private domain and, in addition, the difficulties of bringing the two together, constitute a serious threat to successful public-private partnership. The formation of these partnerships is further hindered by confusion of the concept of public-private partnership. The predominant model of contracting out restricts rather than enhances public-private interaction. This article deals with the difficulties and risks involved in building public-private partnerships and tries to answer the question of how to overcome them. The issue is illustrated by an analysis of the attempts made to realize a huge port expansion in the port of Rotterdam by means of establishing public-private partnership.
In January 1997, Ontario's Ministry of Community and Social Services (Comsoc) entered into a public-private partnership with Andersen Consulting. The business transformation project was intended to support the Ontario Works program and Ontario Disability Support program. The provincial auditor subsequently reviewed the project and identified a number of problems. This particular case illustrates some of the key issues associated with public-private partnerships in Ontario, and perhaps more generally. The article examines the government's managerialist agenda and the twin goals of downsizing the Ontario Public Service while increasing the involvement of business in program delivery. Analysis focuses on how the Ontario government conceives of partnership arrangements; the issue of differences in organizational power between public and private actors; the question of whether shared interests need necessarily exist between the parties; and the problem of securing accountability in partnership arrangements. It finds that collaborative partnerships and democratic accountability are in tension; public-sector organizations risk entering public-private partnerships in subordinate roles; and that divergent public and private purposes hampered the project. Moreover, the article suggests that the ministry's eventual corrective actions embraced traditional public administrative concerns. This development indicates that while recent managerialist reforms have posed some challenge to public administration, it shows continued relevance in protecting the public interest.
It has become popular to advocate partnership arrangements. Such partnerships may be seen as new forms of governance, which fit in with the imminent network society. However, the idea of partnership is often introduced without much reflection on the need to reorganize policy-making processes and to adjust existing institutional structures.
In this contribution, we discuss the ambiguity of partnerships. An empirical basis is provided by means of an analysis of the policy making on the expansion of the Rotterdam harbor. This case indicates that although new governance schemes are being proposed and explored, they still have to comply with the existing procedures in which they are imbedded. Governments especially are not prepared to adjust to governance arrangements. Policy making continues to be based on self-referential organizational decisions, rather than on joint interorganizational policy making. This raises questions about the added value of intended cooperative governance processes.
Allyson Pollock and her colleagues have long argued that using the private finance initiative to build NHS hospitals is an expensive way of building new capacity that constrains services and limits future options. Here they provide evidence that the justification for using private finance—that it offers value for money through lowering costs over the life of the project and by removing risk from NHS trusts—is a sleight of hand Since 1992 the British government has favoured paying for capital works in the public service through the private finance initiative (PFI)—that is, through loans raised by the private sector. For hospitals this means that a private sector consortium designs, builds, finances, and operates the hospital. In return the NHS trust pays an annual fee to cover both the capital cost, including the cost of borrowing, and maintenance of the hospital and any non-clinical services provided over the 25-35 year life of the contract. The policy has been controversial because of its high cost and impact on clinical budgets.
Unlike privatization, contracting out (or simply 'contracting') does not generally involve the sale of publicly owned assets. Yet it has been widely used as a mechanism for reform of public-sector service provision. Contracting introduces ex-ante competition-competition for the market through competitive tendering. This article examines both the theory and evidence of contracting by the public sector. It considers the theoretical conditions, such as contractual incompleteness and the ownership of physical assets, which may impede efficient contracting. It also reviews the international evidence which suggests that savings in the order of 20 percent are achievable, without sacrificing the quality of service provided. In the UK, savings of between 240m Pounds and 280m Pounds have been estimated for contracts let at the central government level. Substantial savings have also been generated by contracting at the local government level. Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press.
Public—Private Partnerships (PPPs) are becoming popular in Europe, but does the reality match the idea of co-operating actors who achieve added value together and share risks? An analysis of three PPPs in the Netherlands suggests that, in practice, PPPs are less ideal than the idea. Partners have difficulty with joint decision-making and organization and tend to revert to traditional forms—by contracting out and by separating responsibilities.
This article looks at the attractiveness of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to the private sector. One of the authors works for Jarvis plc-the company has been a major participant in PFI projects and, more recently, in various PPPs in London and across the UK. The article aims to identify a realistic model of the role of the private sector in PPPs. The authors use three case studies from London to recommend ways of improving the partnership element of PPPs in order to reach a 'win-win' situation, rather than the traditional adversarial approach between private and public sectors.
Despite the normative, political, and instrumental importance of privatizing state-owned enterprises worldwide, practitioners and researchers know little empirically about how different types of citizens feel about these efforts, how they arrive at these judgments, and how enduring these attitudes are likely to be. Using citizen attitudes toward privatization culled from the 1995 French National Election Study, this article offers practitioners and researchers an analytical framework for assessing these attitudes, for anticipating and dealing strategically with the perceived consequences of denationalization efforts, and for refining their understanding of the calculus of consent for market reforms in future survey research.
A category of organization referred to as the "government-sponsored enterprise" (GSE) poses a critical financial and accountability challenge to American political institutions. The largest and perhaps best known GSEs are the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). GSEs have a legal status that deliberately straddles the public and private sectors. Although privately owned for profit, GSEs can expose the U. S. Treasury--and taxpayers--to massive financial liability. Federal oversight of GSEs is fragmented and generally ineffective, thereby leaving the public's interests subordinated to private interests. The authors argue that the first step toward imposing appropriate financial and political accountability is to enact a generic GSE management law which defines the attributes of GSEs, prescribes reporting and examination requirements, and imposes restrictions on financial risk taking. A new federal agency would be responsible for GSE regulatory oversight. This article reviews the problem of GSE financial accountability, and it suggests a solution that can reassert the distinctive legal and administrative characteristics of the public and private sectors.
Despite the normative, political, and instrumental importance of privatizing state-owned enterprises worldwide, practitioners and researchers know little empirically about how different types of citizens feel about these efforts, how they arrive at these judgments, and how enduring these attitudes are likely to be. Using citizen attitudes toward privatization culled from the 1995 French National Election Study, this article offers practitioners and researchers an analytical framework for assessing these attitudes, for anticipating and dealing strategically with the perceived consequences of denationalization efforts, and for refining their understanding of the calculus of consent for market reforms in future survey research.
The central argument in this paper is that the concept of partnership in urban economic policy, as it affected west central Scotland, significantly changed during the 1980s. In summary, the decade began with the public sector commonly taking the lead role, with more evidence of the rhetoric of private-sector involvement than the reality of genuine commitment from the business community. The shift that occurred as the decade progressed has been characterised as one of a simple redirection of responsibility and resources towards the private sector, in particular the transformation of the Scottish Development Agency into Scottish Enterprise and the private sector's control over the Local Enterprise Companies. Such an assessment potentially ignores the complexity of agencies and organisations that evolved during this decade; has the danger of underplaying the continuing role of different levels of government and of minimising the increasingly important part played by non-profit, community and voluntary organisations. Before documenting and analysing the shifting strands of partnership, the paper introduces the historical context that, it is argued, has played an important role in shaping the style of urban economic policy in Scotland, and in particular discusses economic policy initiatives that shaped the urban landscape of west central Scotland. The paper ends with an assessment of the critical ingredients of partnerships that emerged during the decade and a tentative evaluation of their impact on the economic, social and physical environment of west central Scotland.
Many public service organizations have to deal with rapidly changing environments. Government offers less financial security than in the past and stimulates organizations to develop a market orientation. The focus of this article is explaining the shape of strategic management in public service organizations that have merely a public orientation (task organizations) and organizations that combine a public orientation with a market orientation (hybrid organizations). On the basis of four case studies it is concluded that task organizations also move in the direction of hybrid organizations. Strategic management in hybrid public service organizations is a dynamic process in which changing the organization context, i.e. metagovernance, seems to be the predominating dimension of strategic management.
This paper is concerned with emerging trends within the delivery systems and financing methods of public and private infrastructure projects in the US, and with the ongoing debate on public/private partnerships. Project delivery methods and more generally the procurement policies that currently drive the management of the US infrastructure system are explored. The historical evolution of government procurement policies of facilities indicates a wide variety of strategies including a dual-track procurement strategy that used a combination of different delivery methods and, in many instances, private financing. The methods ranged from the combined procurement of the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a facility, such as Design-Build-Operate (DBO) and Design-Build-Finance-Operate (known outside the US as 'BOT'), to the separate procurement of these services, such as Design-Bid-Building (DBB) and Design-Build (DB). In the last 50 years, there has been a shift toward the exclusive reliance on separate procurement such as DBB and the use of public funding. This approach is not sustainable financially, considering the widening gap between the availability of public funds and the increasing needs of the existing infrastructure system. Some drivers that foster a possible future shift in public procurement procedures are highlighted as well as the development of a more efficient infrastructure management practice.
This article reports the findings from an in-depth investigation of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to replace a local authority high school. Through a combination of participant observation, semi-structured interviewing and document review, the research seeks to establish whether the belief that the PFI will result in cost-effective innovative design and operation and maintenance cost savings is justified. The findings suggest little evidence of innovation on the part of the private sector. This observation has implications for the comparative cost of the PFI vis-a-vis traditional public sector procurement, given that innovation (on the part of the private sector) is believed to be one of the key drivers of cost savings. In addition the article makes recommendations with regard to best practice in management and completion of PFI projects with reference to issues around consultation, planning, finance and service delivery.
Market testing is evaluated in the context of market-type mechanisms, for the efficiency gains it achieves, It has been part of public policy in the UK since 1979, and mandatory for defined support services, first in central government departments, then in the National Health Service and finally in local government, The policy is evaluated for its impact for three typical services, in terms of the government's ability to secure contractor interest in tendering, Success has been mixed, and government efforts to stimulate contractor interest have had a marginal impact, Substantial cost savings can be made from market testing, but management should be left to choose which support services are subject to the discipline of the market.
This article looks at the attractiveness of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to the private sector. One of the authors works for Jarvis plc—the company has been a major participant in PFI projects and, more recently, in various PPPs in London and across the UK. The article aims to identify a realistic model of the role of the private sector in PPPs. The authors use three case studies from London to recommend ways of improving the partnership element of PPPs in order to reach a ‘win-win’ situation, rather than the traditional adversarial approach between private and public sectors.
Hybrid organizational arrangements, in which two or more sover- eign organizations combine to pursue common interests, raise signif- icant questions for both scholars and managers. A review of previous research yields four key issues-breadth of purpose, boundary de- termination, value creation, and stability mechanisms-that form the core of a theory of hybrid arrangements. This theory is then used tc generate researchable propositions that explore differences among types of hybrids and to offer insights for managers of hybrid organi- zations. Observers of the corporate landscape are wit- nessing an increase in the variety and complex- ity of organizational forms, many of which rep- resent strategic alliances between organiza- tions, for example, acquisitions, joint ventures, license agreements, research and development (R & D) partnerships, and so forth. These alli- ances result from strategic and operating moves by firms that have adapted to emerging oppor- tunities as well as those that are repositioning themselves within existing industrial frame- works. The hybrid arrangements represented by
This article reports the findings from an in-depth investigation of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to replace a local authority high school. Through a combination of participant observation, semi-structured interviewing and document review, the research seeks to establish whether the belief that the PFI will result in cost-effective innovative design and operation and maintenance cost savings is justified. The findings suggest little evidence of innovation on the part of the private sector. This observation has implications for the comparative cost of the PFI vis-à-vis traditional public sector procurement, given that innovation (on the part of the private sector) is believed to be one of the key drivers of cost savings. In addition the article makes recommendations with regard to best practice in management and completion of PFI projects with reference to issues around consultation, planning, finance and service delivery.
English
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI), introduced by the Conservatives in 1992, has been enthusiastically embraced by the Labour government, with projects worth £12 billion (capital cost) signed between 1997 and 2000. The charge to the public sector includes the capital cost and a charge for the service, with the resulting ‘unitary payment’ charged over the life of the contract which may extend beyond 20 years. PFI is thought to have advantages over traditional procurement, including risk transfer, innovation and value for money. This article explores these advantages in some depth and concludes that the advantages of PFI may not be as significant as some proponents suggest.
English
This article argues that the discourse on public sector modernisation has recently been internationally dominated by new public management (NPM) and that the underlying Anglo-Saxon model and its implicit conceptual,if not epistemological, ‘Anglo-centricity’ may lead to over-accentuate NPM-driven convergence, while disregarding developments in countries with different (‘non-Anglo Saxon’) state and societal traditions. Looking at Germany’s modernisation trajectory as a case in point, the article argues that Germany’s public sector,while finally falling (‘convergently’) in line with some of the NPM imperatives (since the early 1990s),continues to be (‘path-dependently’) shaped by traditional features, such as,in the intergovernmental setting,vertical division of functions,territorality and multi-purpose ‘unitary’ local government,which make for persisting ‘divergence’. Instead of merely reflecting country-specific (German) particularities and idiosycracies, this trajectory may represent a variant within a wider ‘continental European’ pattern distinct from the Anglo-Saxon one.
There are currently strong external pressures in place to increase efficiency in the public sector. The reason for these pressures is an assumption that due to agency problems and opportunism, public enterprises have a tendency to accumulate slack, i.e. to develop lower efficiency compared to what might be achievable in the private sector. Private enterprises form the basis for comparison, and new management techniques are often transferred from the private to the public sector. This article is based on a case study involving two refuse collection enterprises: one public and one from the private sector. Both work in the same market and apply the same technology. The purpose is to investigate whether there are indications of slack in the public refuse collection enterprise, and whether the management control systems applied are suitable for controlling the level of slack. Moreover, additional focus is placed on the differences in management between the two enterprises, representing the public and private sector, respectively. The results indicate that the public refuse collection enterprise had a higher level of slack than the private enterprise, and that the management control systems were not suitable for reducing the level of slack to any significant extent. In the private enterprise, there was a higher degree of budgetary emphasis, the owners made greater demands, employees were more closely supervised and there was a greater degree of participation. In this article, we discuss whether these results may contribute towards explaining any differences in efficiency that may occur between private and public enterprises.
This article examines the state of PFI in the UK following an amendment published by the ASB to FRS 5. It was predicted that this amendment would mean that most properties constructed by the private sector, on behalf of the public sector, would have suddenly to appear on the balance sheets of the latter. This would have led to an unacceptable level of public sector borrowing and could have undermined the entire rationale for the scheme. Having outlined the objectives of PFI and explained the attitude adopted by the ASB, the article examines the reaction of HM Treasury. The article then demonstrates the likely consequences of the main parties in PFI contracts passing on as much risk as possible to the private sector so as to ensure that the assets remain off balance sheet. It concludes by assessing the expected impact that these actions will have on value for money.
The development of performance‐based management poses special difficulties for the public service. There is a tendency to focus on measurement, but that ignores the way quality needs to be judged in the public realm. The assessment of performance, when values can conflict, is necessarily a matter of judgement. The assessment of performance will shift as political debate develops. Fully satisfactory measures of performance are unlikely ever to be discovered. There is a need to recognize the imperfections and limitations of measures, and to use them as a means of supporting politically informed judgement.
Multi-organizational partnerships are now an important means of governing and managing public programmes. They typically involve business, community and not-for-profit agencies alongside government bodies. Partnerships are frequently contrasted with competitive markets and bureaucratic hierarchies. A more complex reality is revealed once partnerships as an organizational form are distinguished from networks as a mode of social co-ordination or governance. Data from studies of UK urban regeneration partnerships are used to develop a four-stage partnership life cycle: pre-partnership collaboration; partnership creation; partnership programme delivery; and partnership termination. A different mode of governance - network, market or hierarchy - predominates at each stage. Separating organizational form from mode of governance enables a richer understanding of multi-organizational activity and provides the basis from which theory and practice can be developed. The key challenge for partnerships lies in managing the interaction of different modes of governance, which at some points will generate competition and at other points collaboration.
In Australia, the statutory corporation was, for around 100 years, the preferred form of organization for public enterprises. In recent years, however, governments have been much more inclined to favour the form of the government-owned company. This article charts the rising popularity of this alternative form of management and suggests that this organizational change has led to a significant decline in respect for the ‘publicness’ of these businesses. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The introduction of compulsory competitive tendering in UK local government reflected conventional public choice theories of bureaucracy. These theories suggest that competition for service contracts will lead to lower expenditure and higher efficiency. Extensions and criticisms of the classical public choice model yield very different conclusions. First, the problems of bureaucratic supply are less severe than originally assumed, and secondly competition may itself generate new problems such as transaction costs, erosion of trust between principals and agents, and rent seeking. The impact of competition on spending and efficiency is therefore indeterminate, and must be established empirically. However, studies which evaluate the effects of competitive tendering in local government are few in number, cover a limited range of services, and are methodologically flawed. Therefore neither the initial imposition of competitive tendering by the Conservatives, nor its planned abolition by Labour, can be traced to a solid foundation of theoretical or empirical support. Theoretical and methodological problems that need to be resolved by further empirical studies are identified.
This article examines the concept of a public sector ethos as it is manifested at regional level. It argues that the increased interaction of the public and private sectors in recent years, exemplified by the growth of quangos and programmes such as the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Single Regeneration Budget (SRB), has had a more complex effect than is usually acknowledged and that while the demands of the market have clearly imposed strains on the conventional view of the public sector, the increasing involvement of private sector organizations in public projects has also had a reciprocal effect on private sector companies. It is further suggested that there is, in consequence of this interaction, a new emerging ethos of public service which more accurately reflects organizational behaviour than the (largely misperceived) public sector ethos which it is replacing. This synthesis of public and private ethics, manifest in both the public and the private organizations engaged in the new 'governance' of the UK, reflects a fundamental shift from a concern with process to a concern with outputs, and offers an insight of general importance into the way in which New Public Management impacts upon the delivery of public services.(1)
Political and managerial processes are creating polycentric networks that transcend the traditional ideas of jurisdictional integrity in state-centric systems. Jurisdictional integrity refers to the political and legal competence of a unit of government to operate within a spatial and functional realm. An intrinsic element of jurisdictional integrity in a democratic system is that citizens are enabled to give consent to and pass judgment on the exercise of authority by that governmental entity. The concept of jurisdictional integrity is shown to apply differentially in relation to the traditional institutions of government in comparison with the emergent complex of quasi-governmental agencies, special purpose bodies and multi-organizational collaborations. Distinctions are drawn between club, agency and polity entities within this emergent organizational field. Problems to be faced in the design of institutions for network governance under conditions of polycentrism are identified and solutions reviewed. The potential of consociationalism to enable collective decision making across a polycentric system is highlighted. Informal norms are shown to be essential in enabling such a system for network governance to operate effectively.
This article strives to deepen our understanding of the nature and role of busi-nesses and Business Leadership Coalitions (BLCs) in public-private partnerships (PPPs) and in the formation and operation of urban governance regimes in major American cities. Our research reveals a greater heterogeneity and diversity of engagement and partnering types than is generally recognized in traditional regime typologies. An engagement portfo-lio framework for analyzing civic activism is proposed to encompass the diverse motives, activities, and partnering configurations exhibited by businesses. The findings suggest the need for changes in regime theory frameworks to capture the full richness and realities of business sector participation in PPPs. In this introductory section we set forth the relevance of examining more closely the role of business in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and suggest the need for reexamining the re-gime theory's typologies as they relate to businesses' involvement. This paper aims to enrich the area in regime theory and urban governance literature dealing with the nature and role of the business organizations that participate in the kind of civic co-operation that Stone (1989) describes as informal arrangements of governance. These arrange-ments meet a variety of pragmatic civic purposes: political and civic leaders need access to resources and expertise; business elites need access to policy makers and decision makers at city, regional, and state levels. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and cross-sector collabora-tions provide important structural vehicles on which urban governance and regime dynamics ride.
This paper explores the use of appraisal in the development of proposals to use private finance to provide acute hospitals under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). It addresses the extent to which value for money (VFM) and affordability (which must be satisfied to enable a scheme to be approved) are demonstrated in the documents prepared by hospital Trusts. It identifies a number of issues (such as the transfer of risk and the development of public sector comparators) that pose new problems for investment appraisal, which are specific to its application to PFI.
This article examines the federal housing policy implications of the 1997 legislation resolving the Section 8 contract renewal crisis. The history of housing policy prior to this new legislation is described. The political and economic forces shaping the debate over the new legislation are discussed and analyzed. The future of Section 8 assisted housing is critically evaluated. Several policy recommendations are derived from the critical analysis. Copyright © 2000 Urban Affairs Association All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
One can look at the arrival of New Public Management and the extensive public sector reforms inspired by this theory from many angles. Here we examine the shift from long-term contracting, typical of bureaucracy and traditional enterprises, to short-term contracting, borrowed from private sector governance methods. Short-term contracting has three principal uses in the governance of the public sector: (a) contracting with service providers after a tendering/bidding process; (b) contracting with the CEOs of the incorporated public enterprises; and (c) contracting with executive agencies about what they should deliver. Theoretical analysis, supported by substantial empirical evidence, suggests that short-term contracting eliminates the extensive post-contractual opportunism connected with long-term contracting, but is vulnerable to precontractual opportunism. Short-term contracting is not just another public sector reform fad, but constitutes a new tool for government which increases efficiency when handled with prudence.
The article explores the evolution of competing views on state, administration and governance in Germany from an historical perspective, with an emphasis on the last five decades. To understand the governance discourse in Germany one has to start from different notions of the state. The first part therefore offers a brief, somewhat polemic, overview about different state traditions in Germany in the twentieth and twenty–first centuries. The second part looks at how discourses about the proper role, the appropriate structures and processes of the public sector and its interactions with its environment have changed during the history of the Federal Republic. The analytic focus is on the different narratives about administrative policies, understood as the various scenarios, assumptions and arguments on which competing policy–suggestions for the public sector have been based. The article argues that it is not sufficient to interpret the ups and downs of different discourses and Leitbilder as more or less erratic, post–modern fashions and fads. Instead, the line up of the central catch–phrases, from democratic via active and lean to the activating state, reflect learning processes, driven above all by the political competition creating a continuous demand for ‘better’, more appropriate narratives to guide and explain current policies.
There has been a growing trend in the federal government toward reliance on organizations that commingle legal attributes of the government and private sectors. These hybrid organizations now constitute a quasi government that occasions both interest and concern by political leaders, practitioners, and scholars alike because these organizations touch the very heart of democratic governance: To whom are these hybrids accountable? How well is the public interest being protected against the interests of private parties?
In this article, the author seeks to define the quasi government and place these hybrid entities into manageable categories from which legal and behavioral generalizations may be drawn. Are hybrid organizations a problem or a solution? Looking critically at this question, the author suggests the answer may depend in large measure on which of two management paradigms the reader accepts: the constitutionalist management paradigm or the entrepreneurial management paradigm, both of which are defined and discussed. The author concludes that the increasin reliance on hybrid organizations constitutes a threat not only to accountable management within the government, but to the fundamental values of democratic governance as well.
This article pursues a detailed understanding of strategic considerations in large-scale partnership negotiations that have implications for public service over the long term. Specifically, this study focuses upon the strategic context of negotiation between governmental entities and private firms as fundamental to partnership viability. Metaphorical comparison between U.S. patent policy (especially as it pertains to cutting-edge biotechnical and digital information issues) and public–private partnership is used to coax out new insight about the latter. The first section sketches an outline of U.S. patent policy as a means of generating analogous questions that can structure discussion of strategy in public–private partnerships. The second section explores the intricacies of public partnership by responding to four questions derived from the patent metaphor. In probing the implications of strategic partnership issues for public managers, the final section defines new capacity-building roles that are consistent with governance as an emerging form of public administration.
Privatization is intended to improve public services by introducing competition and choice. Does privatization of social services result in competition? To answer this we studied New York City's experience with contracts for three services: shelters for homeless adults, home care, and employment training.
A total of 132 contract awards to nonprofit agencies were examined. The evidence suggests the procurement procedures were competitive and followed good practices. There was significant competition in terms of the number of announcements issued, the number of requests for proposals distributed, and the number of proposals ultimately submitted-an average of 2.48 proposals per award.
Contracting for homeless shelters has produced a voucher-like system with desirable features. Vouchers are also used for some employment training and could be used for home care. Such systems can introduce even more competition and choice for clients of social services. Problems of contracting with nonprofit agencies are reviewed.
In response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the federal government, city and county officials, commercial banks and community leaders established the nonprofit Los Angeles Community Development Bank (LACDB). This public-private partnership was a new development model, designed to spur economic growth in some of Los Angeles' most disadvantaged areas. The LACDB was capitalized with $435 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and ranks as the federal government's largest inner-city lending initiative. By January 2001, however, the bank had experienced unacceptably high losses and was seeking permission to continue operations, after reducing its staff by half and closing most of its offices. This article examines why this innovative public-private economic development partnership confronted such difficulties. Public-private partnerships continue to be an important vehicle for urban economic development. This case study provides a warning of potential pitfalls that can occur from such arrangements.
This article employs an institutional perspective in formulating predictions about the ethical futures of privatization partnerships. Although this paper focuses on ethical concerns in the U.S. public sector, it incorporates a multinational dimension in (a) comparing the meaning of privatization among societies and (b) probing privatization financing in the global economy. Five assumptions that flow from institutional reasoning are made explicit as supports for subsequent predictions. The institutional logic shifts privatization conversation away from conventional debate about competition and efficiency toward centralizing forces in both sectors in response to globalization. In that regard, this study identifies the systemic erosion of (local) community integrity as the key privatization problem of the future.
This paper explores a number of dimensions of the accountability processes of governments. Accountability is associated with giving reasons for conduct for responsibilities or authority granted. A key argument of this paper is that governments make themselves accountable but only in a political, rather than managerial sense, resulting in, paradoxically, increasing, rather than decreasing forms of control over society. Due to their unique position in society, where their very existence is dependent upon them exercising control over other parts of society, anything they do has a controlling outcome. Coupling this with a lack of day by day control by the voting public, who have power to elect these bodies in western democracies but not a power to dictate practical action, leaves governments in a uniquely powerful position. Partly to avoid the searching questions from the public, resulting in more detailed forms of political accountability, and, following the logic of the paper, increasing control, governments have seen it appropriate to set up separate internal bodies (such as the auditor generals and the national audit offices) to demonstrate that they are subject to investigation. However, a further key argument of the paper is that, rather than providing an independent voice, auditor generals and the national audit offices provide legitimation to the original actions rather than a curtailment of these processes. The paper builds this complex argument conceptually and empirically. At a conceptual level it draws from a number of different literature bases to provide a “middle range" (Laughlin, 1995) theoretical schema. This is then amplified and developed through an empirical case in connection with the UK’s private finance initiative.
This paper outlines the institutional arrangements for the new public private partnership for air traffic services in the United Kingdom and describes the price regulation regime that has been put in place.
This paper is focused on the development of new services by nonprofit organizations for groups of companies within a particular sector in industry. It is based on a case study of an actual implementation by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with a number of other organizations to upgrade the capabilities of automotive component suppliers in India, to enable them to supply to world-class manufacturers. We draw upon the traditional literature available on new product and service development for firms introducing new products and services for maximizing profit, and contrast those approaches with the approach adopted by nonprofit organizations. We also carry out a comparative analysis between UNIDO's partnership model and the traditional model to highlight the innovation aspects and advantages of the former from the developmental perspective. An attempt is also made to illustrate the pre-formation, formation and post-formation challenges faced by the new cooperation model that envisages the participation of public and private partners.
This paper uses a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) framework to assess whether rail privatisation in Britain has produced savings in operating costs. The paper shows that major efficiencies have been achieved, consumers have benefited through lower prices, whilst the increased government subsidy has been largely recouped through privatisation proceeds. We also find that output quality is no lower (and is probably better) than under the counterfactual scenario of public ownership (pre-Hatfield). The achievement of further savings is key to delivering improved rail services in the future. This paper finds that a privatised structure, where shareholders demand a return on their investment, has
led to significant improvements in operating efficiency - it remains to be seen whether the new regime, with a not-for-profit infrastructure owner, will deliver the same efficiency improvements.
Traditional analysis of the impact of competitive tendering on service provision has focused on costs and prices. Critics have argued that price reductions lead to lower quality. We tested this hypothesis using a two equation econometric model, with data from a panel of 61 cleaning service contracts. The results indicated that while competition reduced price significantly, quality of service was maintained or even enhanced. The effect of competition turned out to be greater on prices than on quality, and the influence of ownership appeared to be negligible on both. The evidence does not support the hypothesis that efficiency gains are traded off for lower quality. Copyright 1995 by Royal Economic Society.
Ireland's National Development Plan 2000–2006 includes a significant programme of public—private partnerships (PPPs). The Irish Government's policy on PPPs has been shaped to ensure that capital investments under PPP are not included when calculating key fiscal aggregates. This article traces the origins of Ireland's PPP programme and outlines the extent of PPP activity to date. It details how the PPP programme has failed to make an impact in terms of addressing Ireland's infrastructure deficit and examines three particular cases where the PPP model has been applied.
Contracting United States Government Work: Organisational and Constitutional Models,
The Nature of Partnership in Urban Renewal in Paris and London,
Towards an Understanding of Types of Public–Private Cooperation,