Public Private partnerships in education and health in the global South: a literature review

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a literature review on public private partnerships (PPPs) in two sectors – education and health – in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It highlights the heterogeneity of the category within and across sectors and shows that the key predictions of the PPP doctrine – cost-efficiency for improved social service delivery to the poor – are hardly fulfilled in practice. Moreover, PPPs – both as policy model and practical arrangements – are underpinned by a narrow conception of education and health, which denies their broader embeddedness within the economy and society. The paper identifies theoretical and methodological limitations of the existing scholarship. It underlines the scarcity of data on the corporate sector and, more broadly, about the economics of education and health PPPs. It also stresses the little attention paid to the beneficiaries. The paper finally calls for further research to open up the ‘black box’ of PPPs.

Unfair competition: exploring state-funded low-fee private schools’ logics of action in Buenos Aires

“…In comparison, fewer studies have explored how schools actually operate under different specific PPP schemes in socially embedded, unevenly regulated education environments (for exceptions see Jabbar, 2015;Jennings, 2010;Van Zanten, 2009;Verger, Bonal and 1 For an updated review on PPPs in the global South see Languille (2016); for a review of empirical research on market policies in education see Waslander, Pater and Van Der Weide (2010). .…”

Public–private partnerships in education assessed through the lens of human rights

“…The theoretical debate on the potential benefits and disadvantages of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education is an ongoing one. Yet there is little analysis of the effects of a diverse range of PPPs on communities and education practices, including how providers in partnerships interact with the state and affect the overall system, positively or negatively (Robertson et al, 2012;Languille, 2017). Many governments, particularly in the global South, that have implemented some type of PPP in education have yet to develop and implement adequate regulatory frameworks to ensure accountability within partnership arrangements.…”

“…PPP is a vague and ambiguous term open to varied interpretation by different actors and used to denote a 1 Most of the research on the effects of PPPs has been undertaken in Latin America (Chile), Europe (UK) and the US, with fewer studies in Africa (e.g., Uganda, Ghana) and Asia (e.g., Pakistan). For recent reviews of education PPPs in different contexts globally, see: Robertson Aslam, Rawal, and Saeed (2017) and Languille (2017). multiplicity of PPP mechanisms with different rationales, motivations and expectations (Robertson et al, 2012;Languille, 2017).…”

“…For recent reviews of education PPPs in different contexts globally, see: Robertson Aslam, Rawal, and Saeed (2017) and Languille (2017). multiplicity of PPP mechanisms with different rationales, motivations and expectations (Robertson et al, 2012;Languille, 2017). This is further complicated by the fact that the implementation and impacts of PPPs are highly context-specific (Verger and Moschetti, 2017) and dependent on the different actors (public and private) involved and the (power) relationship between them, as well as the "nature and history of both the public and private sectors in particular regions, and countries" (Gideon and Unterhalter, 2017).…”

“…What I have argued in this text, and that is illustrated by all the chapters in this book, is that in practice PPPs cover a broad range of policy options and follow different rationales. In education there are numerous challenges and limitations to their implementation and governance (Languille, 2017). A PPP that appears to be compatible with human rights at its conception may be found to undermine human rights at a later stage, when it is very difficult to reform or abolish.…”