ABSTRACT
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are co-operative institutional arrangements between public-and private-sector actors. This chapter examines whether PPPs represent a continuation of, or a break with, the New Public Management (NPM) agenda, and how policy on PPPs has been formulated and implemented in Scandinavia and Australia. In the various countries where it has been implemented, the NPM agenda has been shaped and transformed by national contexts and trajectories (Christensen and Lægreid 2001a). PPPs have become increasingly popular as a form of organizing the interface between public-and private-sector organizations around the world (Hodge and Greve 2005). This chapter compares experience of this form in the state of Victoria in Australia with that of Denmark in Scandinavia. Both states have a population of around 5 million inhabitants and are part of a larger polity (Australia and the European Union). Victoria has been at the forefront in establishing PPPs, and the state has a relatively advanced policy on PPPs and many projects to show for it. Denmark has lagged behind concerning PPPs and hence has a less developed policy in this area and fewer projects to show.
