In the last two decades much attention has been given to public-private partnerships (PPPs), both in research as well as in academia. Especially in the United Kingdom (UK), one of the frontrunners in the use of PPPs, one can... [ view full abstract ]
In the last two decades much attention has been given to public-private partnerships (PPPs), both in research as well as in academia. Especially in the United Kingdom (UK), one of the frontrunners in the use of PPPs, one can find many examples of PPP-projects. Research reflects the leading role of the UK with regard to PPP, for example by using British PPP-projects as cases in academic studies. Besides, PPP research focuses often on topics relevant in the Anglo-Saxon use of PPPs, including risk transferal to private actors, value-for-money and contract-based partnerships. However, long-term contract-based partnerships, as used in the UK, are also adopted by countries with different administrative cultures such as the Netherlands, where the Rhineland model is deeply rooted in public procurement and policy. There, the focus is more on mutual agreement and less on strict contract management. Based on their different administrative cultures, we may expect such countries to handle PPPs different.
A limited amount of PPP research highlights the importance of the relationship between public and private actors in these partnerships (e.g. Weihe, 2009). Some relational aspects, such as trust, are considered to be critical success factors. This research is more in line with the culture of countries, that have adopted the traditional form of contract-based partnerships, but do not share the same administrative culture as the UK. However, previous studies usually do not focus on the concept of relation quality as a whole, but highlight only aspects of relational quality (e.g. Edelenbos, Klijn & Steijn, 2007).
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to further develop the concept of relational quality in PPPs in order to contribute to a better understanding of relational quality between public and private actors. Using a systematic literature review, we first identify relational aspects in previous studies on public-private partnerships, and combine them into one concept. Besides trust, we include other relations aspects like communication and commitment. Furthermore, this study includes a search for explanatory factors that could influence the quality of the relationship. So, this theoretical paper focuses on the following research questions: a. What individual relational aspects contribute to the concept of relational quality in contract-based PPPs? and b. What explanatory factors may clarify the development of the quality of the relationship in these partnerships?
Although currently still in progress, first results of the review show limited attention for relational quality in PPPs, and show that the notion of trust is often the only measurement of relational quality. The results of this study may inspire international research on relational quality in PPPs in countries with a less contract-oriented approach, as well as in countries like the UK. After all, despite the focus on contractual aspects, relational aspects are also present in those partnerships. The results of this review will be used to build a model of relational quality that can be tested in future empirical studies.
I3 - Public-Private Partnerships: Culture, context and governance in a global perspective
