Public-private Partnerships, Management Capacity and Public Service Efficiency

2015. Public-private partnerships, management capacity and public service efficiency. Please note: Changes made as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing, formatting and page numbers may not be reflected in this version. For the definitive version of this publication, please refer to the published source. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite this paper. Summary. By working with business, public organisations are assumed to benefit from: a more contestable procurement process; access to private sector entrepreneurialism and the realisation of previously untapped scale economies. Nevertheless, realization of these benefits may be contingent upon an expansion of management capacity to cope with increased transaction costs. We examine the relationship between a commitment to public-private partnership, management capacity and the productive efficiency of a set of English local authorities. We find that only those authorities with very strong management capacity are able to realise productive efficiency gains from public-private partnership. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Public-private partnership; efficiency; management capacity; statistical analysis.