Public-Private Mixes and Partnerships: A Search for Understanding

The idea of the public-private partnership (PPP) has become one of the dominant forces in public sector reform over the recent period. Its advocates have no doubt that it leads to a better future, particularly in the area of infrastructure development. But there are many critics who point out variously that the advantages are not nearly as great as the advocates assume, that the practice itself is not so new, that most of the infrastructure deals are not real partnerships, and indeed that the field is compromised by a massive confusion of meanings. Not surprisingly, a search has begun for a classificatory system which will help sort out the variety of arrangements now loosely described as PPPs and so aid better understanding of the field. This article traces these problems and developments in understanding.