Abstract
This article aims to fill the void in the literature regarding the sustainable development of public–private partnerships (PPPs) by answering the following research questions: (1) Between 1980 and 2017, what were the PPP-related policy priorities in the three different historical phases of the Chinese national agenda that we have identified herein? (2) Have the PPP-related policies shown a pattern of moving toward sustainable development, and if so, to what extent? Against a criteria framework of evaluating how PPP-related policies could contribute to sustainable development, this article conducted a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 299 PPP-related policy documents issued by the Chinese central government between 1980 and 2017. By visualizing the networks of policy keywords and policy-issuing departments, this article identified the PPP-related policy priorities in the following three distinct historical phases: Phase I (1980–1997), the encouragement of foreign investment in the public infrastructure; Phase II (1998–2008), the encouragement of the marketization of the urban public utilities; and Phase III (2009–2017), the intensive institutionalization and extensive application of PPPs for solving the local debt problem. Corresponding to the abovementioned policy priorities, this article found that the pattern of PPP-related policies has shifted from the total absence of sustainable development policies in Phase I, to a few sustainable development policy attempts in Phase II, and finally, to a tendency toward policies favoring sustainable development in Phase III.
Highlights
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) can be defined as “agreements where public sector bodies enter into long-term contractual agreements in which private parties participate in, or provide support for the provision of infrastructure and public service” [1]
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This article aims to answer two specific research questions: (1) Between 1980 and 2017, what were the PPP-related policy priorities in the different historical phases of the Chinese national agenda? (2) Have the PPP-related policies in China shown a pattern of moving toward sustainable development, and if so, to what extent? As revealed in the analysis above, PPP-related policy development in China has gone through three historical phases: in the early 1980s, PPPs were used to develop public/economic infrastructure; in the late 1990s, PPPs were used to encourage the marketization of the urban public utilities; and in recent years, there has been intensive institutionalization and extensive application of PPPs in public services
Summary
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) can be defined as “agreements where public sector bodies enter into long-term contractual agreements in which private parties participate in, or provide support for the provision of infrastructure and public service” [1]. Based on a collection of 299 PPP-related policy documents from 1980 to 2017, this article aims to explore two specific research questions as follows: (1) Between 1980 and 2017, what were the PPP-related policy priorities in the different historical phases of the Chinese national agenda? (2) Have the PPP-related policies shown a pattern of moving toward sustainable development, and if so, to what extent? One research objective is to respond to the concerns about how to assess the extent to which PPP-related policies have contributed to sustainable development in China. In 2017, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) published a conference room paper, which served as a draft of the guiding principles on people-first PPPs in connection to the UN SDGs; this conference room paper provided eight specific principles regarding PPPs for the purposes of working toward sustainable development [3]
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