The Impacts of Infrastructure PPPs on Public Sector Capacity

Abstract

Infrastructure PPPs have been shown to overcome public sector capital and capacity constraints in the short term, and therefore, increase the viability of desired infrastructure projects. Their long-term impacts on the capacities of governments have, however, not been considered as explicitly. This issue is especially salient in the context of infrastructure delivery due to the central role that the public sector continues to play in the process of selecting, delivering and managing infrastructure assets. This paper seeks to illuminate this issue through a review of literature on "public sector capacity," the changing role of government, public sector contracting, and outsourcing in the private sector. We draw on these diverse streams of literature to (i) clarify the concept of "public sector capacity", (ii) identify two broad typologies of capacity, and (iii) investigate the possible impacts of PPPs on each of these dimensions of capacity. We conclude with suggestions for future research.