Editing Public–private partnership (section)

== Origins ==
[[File:Second Toll Gate on Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario in 1886.jpg|thumb|right|Second Toll Gate on Yonge Street in 1886]]
Governments have used such a mix of public and private endeavors throughout history.<ref name=":4">Wettenhall, R. (2019), The Public/Private Interface: Surveying the History, in G. Hodge and C. Greve (eds.), The Challenge of Public–Private Partnerships: Learning from International Experience, Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar</ref><ref>Wettenhall, R. (2000), Mixes and partnerships through time, in G.A. Hodge, C. Greve and A. Boardman (eds.),''International Handbook in Public–Private Partnerships'', Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar</ref>

[[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] utilized "[[concession (contract)|concessions]]" in the early 1800s to obtain public works for minimal cost while the concessionaires' companies made most of the profits from projects such as railroads and dams.<ref>{{cite book|first=Zachary|last=Karabell|title=Parting the desert: the creation of the Suez Canal|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|page=[https://archive.org/details/partingdesertcre00kara/page/34 34]|date=2003|isbn=978-0-375-40883-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/partingdesertcre00kara/page/34}}</ref> Much of the early infrastructure of the United States was built by what can be considered public–private partnerships. This includes the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike road in Pennsylvania, which was initiated in 1792,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buxbaum |first1=Jeffrey N |title=Public Sector Decision Making for Public-private Partnerships |date=2009 |publisher=Transportation Research Board |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-309-09829-8 |page=9}}</ref> an early steamboat line between [[Gibbons v. Ogden#Background|New York and New Jersey]] in 1808; many of the railroads, including the nation's [[United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company#History|first railroad]], chartered in New Jersey in 1815; and most of the modern [[Energy policy of the United States|electric grid]].{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} In Newfoundland, [[Robert Gillespie Reid]] contracted to operate the railways for fifty years from 1898, though originally they were to become his property at the end of the period.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

The late 20th and early 21st century saw a clear trend toward governments across the globe making greater use of various PPP arrangements.<ref name=":1" />  Pressure to change the model of public [[procurement]] was associated with the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] turn. Instigators of the policy portrayed PPPs as a solution to concerns about the growing level of [[public debt]] during the 1970s and 1980s. They sought to encourage private [[investment]] in [[infrastructure]], initially on the basis of ideology and [[accounting]] fallacies arising from the fact that public accounts did not distinguish between recurrent and capital expenditures.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|chapter 1}}

In 1992, the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government of [[John Major]] in the [[United Kingdom]] introduced the [[Private finance initiative]] (PFI),<ref name="RP01-117">{{cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Grahame|title=The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Commons Briefing papers RP01-117|url=http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP01-117/RP01-117.pdf|website=UK Parliament: House of Commons Library|publisher=UK Government|access-date=20 January 2018|ref=RP01-117}}</ref> the first systematic program aimed at encouraging public–private partnerships. The 1992 program focused on reducing the [[public sector borrowing requirement|public-sector borrowing requirement]], although, as already noted, the effect on public accounts was largely illusory. Initially, the private sector was unenthusiastic about PFI, and the public sector was opposed to its implementation. In 1993, the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] described its progress as "disappointingly slow". To help promote and implement the policy, Major created institutions staffed with people linked with the [[City of London]], [[accountancy]] and [[consultancy]] firms who had a vested interest in the success of PFI. 
[[File:Tony Blair in 2002.jpg|thumb|During his first term in office, Tony Blair made public-private partnerships the norm for government procurement projects in the United Kingdom.]]
Around the same time, PPPs were being initiated haphazardly in various [[OECD]] countries. The first governments to implement them were ideologically [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] and short on [[Government revenue|revenues]]: they were thus politically and fiscally inclined to try out alternative forms of public procurement. These early PPP projects were usually pitched by wealthy and politically connected [[business magnate]]s. This explains why each countries experimenting with PPPs started in different [[Economic sector|sectors]].<ref name=":0" /> At that time, PPPs were seen as a radical reform of government service provision.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Franceys|first1=Richard|last2=Weitz|first2=Almud|date=November 2003|title=Public-private community partnerships in infrastructure for the poor|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.1052|journal=Journal of International Development|language=en|volume=15|issue=8|pages=1083–1098|doi=10.1002/jid.1052|issn=0954-1748|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1997, the new British government of [[Tony Blair]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] expanded the PFI but sought to shift the emphasis to the achievement of "value for money", mainly through an appropriate allocation of risk. Blair created [[Partnerships UK]] (PUK), a new semi-independent organization to replace the previous pro-PPP government institutions. Its mandate was to promote and implement PFI. PUK was central in making PPPs the "new normal" for public infrastructure procurements in the country.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last1=Shaoul|first1=Jean|last2=Stafford|first2=Anne|last3=Stapleton|first3=Pamela|date=2007|title=Partnerships and the role of financial advisors: private control over public policy?|journal=Policy & Politics|language=en|volume=35|issue=3|pages=479–495|doi=10.1332/030557307781571678}}</ref> Multiple countries subsequently created similar [[PPP units]] based on PUK's model.<ref name="Literature Review: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Centralised PPP Units" />

While initiated in [[first world countries]], PPPs immediately received significant attention in [[developing countries]]. This is because the PPP model promised to bring [[public–private partnership in transition economies|new sources of funding for infrastructure projects in transition economies]], which could translate into jobs and [[economic growth]]. However, the lack of investor rights guarantees, commercial [[confidentiality]] laws, and dedicated state spending on public infrastructure in these countries made the implementation of [[public–private partnership in transition economies]] difficult. PPPs in the countries usually can't rely on stable revenues from user fees either. The [[World Bank]]'s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Forum attempts to mitigate these challenges.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="bird08">{{cite book |editor1-last=Vaillancourt |editor1-first=François |editor2-last=Bird |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=Fiscal Decentralization in Developing Countries |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>