Public Private Partnerships In Global Development

The global development community has articulated many collective aspirations in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at transforming the world. Given the complicated issues that accompany globalization, State and non-State actors continue to explore the utility of public–private cooperation mechanisms. Public– private cooperation initiatives strive for global governance mechanisms involving oversight by all of the actors and operating frameworks that include multiple states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, private sector companies and prominent individuals.

Large infrastructure projects often face significant cost overruns and stakeholder fragmentation. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) allow governments to procure long-term infrastructure services from private providers, rather than developing, financing, and managing infrastructure assets themselves. Aligning public and private interests and institutional logics for decades-long service contracts subject to shifting economic and political contexts creates significant governance challenges. We integrate multiple theoretical perspectives with empirical evidence to examine how experiences from more mature PPP jurisdictions can help improve PPP governance approaches worldwide.

Levy demystifies public-private partnerships as an innovative solution to the challenges of designing, financing, building, and operating major infrastructure projects.

The global development community has articulated many collective aspirations in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at transforming the world. Given the complicated issues that accompany globalization, State and non-State actors continue to explore the utility of public-private cooperation mechanisms. Public- private cooperation initiatives strive for global governance mechanisms involving oversight by all of the actors and operating frameworks that include multiple states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, private sector companies and prominent individuals. This book examines global public-private initiatives which attempt to form new institutions to achieve cooperation objectives in contrast to traditional PPP models which rely on contract arrangements between governments and service providers. Students of these initiatives from many interconnected disciplines, including law, finance, international relations and governance will find this introduction to this growing field of development cooperation timely and informative.

Development Issues in Global Governance presents the first serious academic study of multilateral organizations’ current partnerships with the private sector. This new volume describes empirically, and analyzes theoretically, the impact of such partnerships on the practices, legitimacy and authority of the parties involved. With detailed case studies of key international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Bank, and the UN's Education, Science and Communication Organization (UNESCO), the reader is given a clear understanding of present debates in this critical area of world affairs. This invaluable book: includes fresh case studies that deal with five different industries: pharmaceuticals, software, water supply, tobacco and chocolate provides an overview of the scope of the phenomenon of partnerships in the multilateral system, and classification of different types is based on detailed qualitative research, including extensive interviews in the multilateral organizations places the findings in a rigorous theoretical framework, relating them to current trends in international politics and international political economy examines the challenges contained in the Millennium Development Goals: the provision of drugs to HIV/AIDS patients and vaccination for all children; the bridging of the digital divide; combating child labour; and the provision of clean water to the poor. The authors conclude that we are witnessing the emergence of a new institutional form, best characterized as ‘market multilateralism’. They argue that although transnational corporations have become heavily involved with multilateral organizations, these partnerships are crafted to deal with specific instances of market failure, while the guiding principles of the global economy remain unchallenged. This book will be of great interest to all students of development studies, international relations, political science and business management.

This timely new book provides an international perspective on Public Private Partnerships. Through 21 case studies, it investigates the existing and fast developing body of principles and practices from a wide range of countries and is the first book to bring together leading international academics and practitioners under a common framework that enables convenient cross-country comparisons. The authors focus on the impact of the financial crisis has had on how governments have reviewed and overhauled their PPP policies as they have examined or tested new ways of partnering more effectively, efficiently and sustainably with the private sector. Readers will be able to gauge the level of maturity of PPP development in the book’s case studies, understand similarities and differences in their practices, and gain useful insights into the regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure in place to support implementation of PPP. Finally, the book offers insights into the future challenges and opportunities that PPP offers stakeholders.

This book argues that despite the hype within many policy circles, there is actually very little evidence to support the presumed benefits of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in reducing poverty and addressing inequalities in the provision of and access to public services. Taking a cross-sectoral comparative approach, this book investigates how PPPs have played out in practice, and what the implications have been for inequalities. Drawing on a range of empirical case studies in education, healthcare, housing and water, the book picks apart the roles of PPPs as financing mechanisms in several international and national contexts and considers the similarities and differences between sectors. The global COVID-19 pandemic has raised significant questions about the future of social provision and through its analysis of the emergence and expansion of the role of PPPs, the book also makes a vital contribution to current discussion over this rapidly changing landscape. Overall, this wide-ranging guide to understanding and evaluating the role of PPPs in the Global South will be useful to researchers within development, international relations, economics, and related fields, as well as to policy makers and practitioners working in development-related policy.

The collection of papers brings out the complexities in PPP in terms of types, conceptualization, structure, institutions, and financing. It covers a broad sweep ranging from infrastructure to services and utilities; and from global to Indian states. The methodology is primarily empirical but the thrust is on conceptualization of PPP in its various forms and frameworks. PPP is still a practitioner’s field but is growing in size and significance; and as a solution to failures of public system and the consequent privatization. It is a major attraction to policy makers and funding agencies given its middle-of-the-road approach. It is likely to gain currency, but it is important that we get deeper understandings of this form before we place more faith in this. The papers in this book, selected from a conference on PPP held at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore in 2008, raise several important conceptual issues and seek to address some of them.