Institutional work and accountability in public–private partnerships

Abstract

The large-scale emergence of public–private partnerships (PPPs) has drawn attention to the mechanisms of accountability in PPPs. However, there has been little research yet on how the institutional logics of the mechanisms are instituted, and there is still little knowledge on the role of accountability in the governance of PPPs. The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical framework for studying the institutional logics of accountability in PPPs by including institutional work projects in an analysis. The theoretical framework is applied in a single case analysis of the Finnish public–private pension system TyEL. The case study reveals accountability gaps and changes previous understanding of the role of public accountability in governance of PPPs.

Keywords:

• accountability
• governance
• institutional work
• organization fields
• pension systems
• public–private partnerships