It is top-down governance: examining environmental public-private partnerships in China

ABSTRACTPublic-private partnerships have been touted as an importantgovernance tool. To what extent efficiency gains are internalizedinto the governance scheme remains open. This study proposes a nestedmodel suggesting that the development of PPPs is enabled andconstrained by project features, local contexts and (top-down)governance scheme. Based on 325 environmental PPP projects in China,the multilevel models suggest when government payment or subsidy wereinvolved, the development of PPPs was not driven by efficiency gainsbut empowered by top-down governance. While efficiency gainsmattered, user fees also prevailed more when certain governingarrangements were place. PPPs in China serve and are also constrainedby top-down governance, raising potential concerns on efficiency andpublic accountability.KEYWORDS: Public–private partnershipstop-down governanceefficiency gains Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationNotes on contributorsLiying ZhangDr. Liying Zhang is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administraiton at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics in China. Her research interest has been in collaborative governance, emergency management and public administration.Xuhong SuDr. Xuhong Su is an associate professor in the Baker School at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests have been focused on both public administration, public management, and scientific workforce policy.