An Empirical Examination of Public Involvement in Public-Private Partnerships: Qualifying the Benefits of Public Involvement in PPPs

This article investigates the roles and impacts of public involvement in public-private partnerships (PPPs). Our findings contribute to the literature on public-private collaborations by demonstrating the ways that the facilitation of deliberative activities can provide administrative benefits to PPPs. The results suggest that although public involvement can improve support from citizens and political leaders for PPPs and improve the tailoring of project designs to local conditions, the processes have little effect on expediting project delivery or in addressing power imbalances between public and private sectors. We also find that a combination of in-person approaches and virtual approaches to public involvement can improve the achievement of performance standards in PPPs.