New Perspectives on Transnational Public-Private Partnerships: A Critical Analysis of the United Nations-Business Partnership

Abstract

This paper critically assesses the United Nations-business partnership since the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. This study provides a critical overview of relevant theoretical approaches, buttressed by evidence from public-private partnership cases. Applying international relations (IR) theories permits qualitative research on, and future evaluation of, the partnership’s emergence. This study finds that while we see core elements of the rational choice perspective in the formation and implementation of the UN-business partnership, we see its legitimization via constructivist rhetoric–even for cases where the neo-Gramscian view is compelling. While traditional PPPs are often transnational, the mood articulated by the UN may have shifted goals for “private” parties, with firms’ motivations moving from a purely for-profit stance to one that embraces more social responsibility; goals also shifted for “public” parties, from state to interstate objectives, and from micro (infrastructure) to macro (shared development goals) objectives.