Do Public-Private Partnerships Create Value for Money for the Public Sector? The Portuguese Experience

Over the last few decades, public-private partnerships have been increasingly used by governments around the world to finance and manage complex operations. Doubts about their efficiency have been raised, however. Criticism of public-private partnerships reflects the fact that governments tend to use them as “off-budget” operations, to avoid fiscal constraints. Do they generate “value for money” to the public sector? The literature is less than unanimous. How one assesses value for money in these types of arrangements has become extremely important for public managers.