Public–private partnerships in Flemish schools: a complex governance structure in a complex context

Abstract

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are used very widely but remarkably little empirical research has been published investigating the governance of PPPs. PPPs are complex infrastructure projects and present important governance challenges as the responsibilities of public and private partners are ambiguous and can be confused. This paper looks at the interactions between the elements of complexity and at the governance structure of PPPs, and their combined effect on performance. A case study in Flanders (the northern region of Belgium) is discussed.

Keywords:

• Complexity
• control
• governance
• performance
• public–private partnership (PPP)

Notes

*European Union member states are obliged to prepare national accounts to a common format as defined in the European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (ESA 95). These accounts are prepared by national statistics offices and reported to Eurostat. ESA 95 sets out how institutional units and PPPs are to be treated for the purposes of these statistical analyses, and whether or not PPP assets should be recorded or not as government assets with a corresponding public sector liability. When the public sector finances 50% or more of a PPP, any debt in the PPP must be included in a government's balance sheet.