Public-Private Partnerships across Hierarchical, Market, and Network Governance: Compatibility and Paradoxes

Abstract

Public Private Partnership initiatives have witnessed substantial acceptance across the globe and have been extensively used as a mechanism for provision of public infrastructure and services, yet compatibility of these initiatives with different forms of administrations remains largely unexamined. This paper explores the association between PPPs and three important administrative models such as traditional bureaucratic administration, New Public Management and network governance. The analysis conducted through a systematic literature review methodology examines the governing principles of each model in order to determine their compatibility with PPPs whose nature can be defined as collaborative and market-oriented. Analysis suggests that PPPs pose several challenges to the traditional bureaucratic administration systems due to their rigid hierarchical structure, centralization and procedural rigidity. Even though PPPs seem to align with NPM principles, their long-term contract-based nature poses certain paradoxes with regard to competition and market discipline. However, the analysis reveals that network governance seems to be the most compatible administrative system with PPPs due to its cooperative, stakeholder-driven and coordinating nature.