Globalization in water infrastructure: a network of public–private strategic alliances

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Purpose Water is a key sector with major repercussions on health, the natural environment and the economy. Public ownership and control of water infrastructures are the norm in most countries. Yet some private water companies emerged as early as the 19th century. In the past few decades, many governments, especially in developing countries, have sought the involvement of the private sector. This study aims to contribute to the extant literature by developing a multidisciplinary framework to look at private participation in the sector in terms of the overall trends of governments’ and companies’ tendencies to form strategic alliances on water projects. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the World Bank database on private participation in infrastructure (PPI) is used, and social network analysis and generalized linear model are implemented as analytical tools. Findings This study finds that alliances between governments and companies on PPI projects are positively impacted by positional and relational embeddedness. Furthermore, governments and companies with a shared language and those that are geographically proximate are more likely to engage in PPI projects. Originality/value A key policy finding is that, on average, countries engaged in more PPI projects have a higher sustainable development goal 6 (clean water and sanitation for all) category score.