Public-private partnership for the provision of public goods: theory and an application to NGOs

Timothy Besley and Maitreesh Ghatak

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of public and private responsibility in the provision of public goods. We emphasize that a typical public good will require many different inputs which raises the possibility of partnerships to exploit comparative advantages of different parties. But hold-up problems due to contractual incompleteness in specifying tasks discourage separation of ownership and management. We extend our analysis to examine the role of project design or “ideology” as a separate non-contractible input, and the possibility of crowding out in the form of a less caring government being elected because of the presence of private providers. The main application developed here is to NGOs in developing countries which, in the last two decades, have been increasingly involved in various capacities in the provision of a wide range of public goods and services.

Keywords: Public Goods; non-governmental organizations; incomplete contracting; partnerships. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 H4 L3 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 1999-08
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2162/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Public–private partnerships for the provision of public goods: Theory and an application to NGOs (2017)
Working Paper: Public-private partnerships for the provision of public goods: theory and an application to NGOs (2017)
Working Paper: Public-Private Partnership for the Provision of Public Goods: Theory and an Application to NGOs (1999)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:2162

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