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Beyond the rhetoric of strategic public procurement: a study on innovation and sustainability in public-private partnerships

Boek - Dissertatie

Against the background of the renewed EU directives on Public Procurement from 2014, there has been an increased interest in the strategic use of public procurement as a policy instrument to achieve broader societal goals. Whereas according to ‘policy rhetoric’, public procurement is a powerful tool to achieve societal policy objectives such as sustainable development and innovation, the empirical research on strategic public procurement is limited—particularly with regard to infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs). This PhD thesis aims to contribute to this evidence base, by explaining to what degree and in what way PPP procurement can be used to achieve broader policy objectives. Public-private partnerships are long-term integrated contracts for the provision of public infrastructure. PPPs can be seen as a form of public procurement, but typical characteristics that distinguish PPPs from traditional public procurement include: the use of private finance, the bundling of design, building, operation, and/or maintenance into an integrated long-term contract, the transfer of risks to the private sector and a focus on the specification of project outputs rather than inputs. This thesis is based on (comparative) case study research (including qualitative comparative analysis) on a medium number of PPP projects. Empirically, various types of infrastructure projects in the Netherlands and Belgium have been examined, such as transport projects, sluices, prisons, swimming pools and government buildings. The focus of the research has been particularly on the policy outcomes ‘sustainability’ and ‘innovation’. This study identified several successful practices of strategic PPP procurement, but the findings also indicate that there is substantial room for improvement. The results of this study support the view that both structure and agency aspects matter for successful strategic PPP procurement. Overall, my research indicates that strategic procurement through PPPs requires concrete action by public procurement authorities directed at the specific desired outcomes. In this respect, various conditions and measures are presented in this thesis. This study should, therefore, be of value to practitioners wishing to stimulate sustainability, innovation and/or societal value through PPP procurement.
Aantal pagina's: 210
Jaar van publicatie:2019
Trefwoorden:Doctoral thesis
Toegankelijkheid:Closed