ABSTRACT

From the 1980s onwards, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have increased in number and scope around the world. The defining feature of these, developing a partnership between government and one or more private company, is clearly not a recent innovation. However, since the mid1980s, the dramatic increase in such partnerships, their expansion to services normally considered to be protected from market forces and their active promotion as development strategies in the Global South have been remarkable. From the provision of basic services such as electricity, health, education and water, to the development of vast urban spectacles, the boom in public-private partnerships emphasizes the renewed primacy of the market in the development process. In what follows, I consider some of the arguments for and against public-private partnerships. Then, in concluding that the evidence for their benefits is often lacking, I consider the reasons for their continued prevalence and promotion.