Public-Private Partnerships: A Relational Approach

Dr Alberto Asquer

During the last 30 years, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been sometimes heralded as a ’silver bullet’ to fund infrastructure development and public services but sometimes ostracised as perverse schemes that unfairly benefit private investors at the expense of governments and taxpayers alike. While evidence of PPP effectiveness is controversial or mixed at best, an increasing number of PPP projects have been launched recently especially in countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle-East.

This webinar aims to discuss how theory and practice on PPPs can benefit from a relational approach, which grants attention to the multiple and mutually influencing relationships that arise around PPP projects between public authorities, private investors, financial institutions, contractors, users and donors. In contrast to approaches based on principal-agent relationship, a relational approach to PPPs provides various ways to theorise the role of politics, strategy and negotiation in the the design and management of PPP projects.

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