Regional Development Banks and the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships

Abstract

Abstract The European Investment Bank (EIB) has been at the vanguard of public-private partnership (PPP) promotion and has been followed by most regional development banks (RDB) and many national development banks around the world. EIB activism on the promotion of PPPs can best be understood through the lenses of policy and norm entrepreneurship. Operating strategically, the EIB repeatedly created a ‘policy window’ through which to promote PPPs in different contexts. The EIB developed unrivalled PPP expertise among public bodies globally—with the possible exception of the United Kingdom Treasury. While the EIB was potentially motivated by ‘rationalist’ institutional goals, ideational considerations motivated a small group of British and Irish norm entrepreneurs to promote PPPs. The EIB promoted PPP usage to other RDB through the sharing of expertise and the joint financing of projects.