Public-Private Partnership Transformation and Worker Satisfaction: A Case Study of Sanitation Workers in H-City, China

Weixia Lyu,Camila Fonseca,Jerry Zhirong Zhao,Yanan Zheng

doi:10.3390/su12135479

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) as a new model of public service provision. Transitioning from bureaucrat- to market-oriented management of public services entails organizational changes that may affect employee satisfaction, and thus, PPP performance. We take sanitation services in H-City as a case study to explore the managerial factors that influenced worker satisfaction during the PPP transformation. Our research shows that motivation and transition factors influence worker satisfaction in the PPP transformation and may allow a smoother transformation of sanitation services. In particular, focusing on balancing workload and compensation, training, improving public attitudes, and adopting worker-friendly rules contribute to the satisfaction of sanitation workers. These findings will contribute to the transformation of the provision of public services in China.

Highlights

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) have made rapid progress as a new model of service provision in recent years
Model I includes the full sample, Model II only includes sanitation workers who have been employed before the PPP transformation, and Model III includes only sanitation workers hired after the PPP transformation
For the purpose of this research, the first model is the most important as it provides a way to compare job satisfaction between the sanitation workers hired before and after the PPP transformation and test the hypothesis related to transitional factors

Summary

Introduction

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) have made rapid progress as a new model of service provision in recent years. The term “societal capital” indicates that the Chinese government collaborates with the private sector and with state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which play an important role in China’s market economy. The cooperation between government agencies and public- or private-enterprises has become a major engine in market-oriented reforms of public services in the country. Services that used to be provided by government agencies are provided through PPPs. Services that used to be provided by government agencies are provided through PPPs These reforms were adopted with the hope that this innovative approach will bring private resources to sustain China’s infrastructure boom and increase the efficiency of service provision [2]. By the end of 2017, the Chinese government had initiated more than 14,000 PPP projects [2], across a wide range of fields including economic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and environmental facilities [3], as well as social services such as education, health care, and senior services [4]

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