Public-Private Partnerships in the Netherlands and Flanders: A Review of Fourteen Doctoral Theses

De recente golf van promotieonderzoeken naar publiek-private samenwerking (PPS) roept de vraag op naar de staat van de huidige PPS-praktijk in Nederland en Vlaanderen en het onderzoek daarnaar. Onze review laat zien dat de proefschriften voornamelijk infrastructurele projecten onderzoeken die met langlopende DBFM(O)-contracten worden gerealiseerd. De proefschriften groeperen zich rond vraagstukken betreffende effectiviteit, transactiekosten en legitimiteit. Een rode draad door hun bevindingen heen is dat of en hoe PPS werkt, sterk contextafhankelijk is. Veel van de aanbevelingen benadrukken het belang van de zachte aspecten van samenwerking. De nadruk ligt op de vroege projectfasen: voorbereiding, aanbesteding en contractering. Daarnaast laat de generaliseerbaarheid van de studies te wensen over. Er is meer onderzoek nodig naar de latere projectfasen van PPS alsook meer programmatisch, kwantitatief en (internationaal) vergelijkend PPS-onderzoek.Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have attracted considerable attention in the Netherlands and Flanders, as witnessed by the recent wave of doctoral theses on this topic. This article presents a review of fourteen Dutch and Flemish doctoral theses, published in the period 2012-2015. The main purpose of the review was to examine what the theses’ most important findings and conclusions are. We found that they mainly focus on themes related to effectiveness, transaction costs, and legitimacy. However, although PPPs are often part of a debate between opponents and proponents, none of the studies found convincing arguments for or against the use of PPPs. Instead, most studies stressed the importance of contextual factors for the success of PPPs. The doctoral theses provided various valuable recommendations for practitioners regarding, e.g., the optimization of PPP procurement and the importance of soft management aspects such as collaborative working and process management. We observed that most theses studied PPPs by applying traditional theories and methods and that the majority focused on the early project phases of planning, procurement, and contracting. More research is needed into the later project phases. Finally, since the generalizability of the theses is limited, more programmatic, quantitative, and (international) comparative research is required