Title: Contracting for public stewardship in public-private partnerships

Authors: Joshua Steinfeld; Kouliga Koala; Ron Carlee

Addresses: School of Public Service, Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University, 2084 Constant Hall, Norfolk, VA, USA ' School of Public Service, Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University, 2084 Constant Hall, Norfolk, VA, USA ' School of Public Service, Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University, 2084 Constant Hall, Norfolk, VA, USA

Abstract: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are potentially solutions to some governmental challenges but the differing motives of the private and public sectors pose issues regarding accountability. Through a public stewardship framework, a prescriptive analysis is presented to demonstrate how both value-for-money (VFM) and the pursuit of public values can be simultaneously achieved in benefitting both sectors. Best value, leadership and collaboration emerge as outcome variables of public stewardship that serve to improve accountability for PPPs. The findings reveal public stewardship as the critical link between VFM and public values to reconcile accountability issues that have been identified as obstacles to the successful formation and implementation of PPPs.

Keywords: contracting; public stewardship; public-private partnerships; PPPs; value for money; VFM; accountability; public values; public management; procurement management; best value; leadership; collaboration; competing motives.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2019.098549

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2019 Vol.12 No.2, pp.135 - 155

Received: 05 Oct 2017
Accepted: 23 Mar 2018
Published online: 27 Mar 2019 *

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