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FINANCIAL GAINS AND VALUE LOSS? THE IMPACTS OF LOCAL MIXED COMPANIES
Author(s) -
PETERS B. Guy,
PIERRE Jon,
RØISELAND Asbjørn
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
annals of public and cooperative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-8292
pISSN - 1370-4788
DOI - 10.1111/apce.12031
Subject(s) - value (mathematics) , argument (complex analysis) , core (optical fiber) , accountability , perspective (graphical) , democracy , business , private sector , set (abstract data type) , public sector , economics , mixed economy , public administration , public relations , law and economics , market economy , political science , economic growth , economy , politics , law , biochemistry , chemistry , materials science , machine learning , artificial intelligence , computer science , composite material , programming language
Partnerships between public and private actors have a long history in Europe and USA. More recently, however, we have been witnessing an extensive use of these instruments, an increasing number of the purposes for which they are used, and a growing ambition to create more stable interactions, e.g. by institutionalizing partnerships as mixed companies. From a democratic perspective this development potentially creates problems in terms of steering and accountability. Questions can be raised about the extent to which partnerships will promote the public interest and defend collective interests. The particular difficulties of mixed companies arise, we argue, from their combining two features. One is the shift in values and the increased acceptance of private‐sector values following from the New Public Management reform wave. The second is the way these structures become institutionalized, locking in the value set and making reaction to any changes in social need. The core argument of this article is that the combined effect of these two features represents a significant weakening of public value in mixed companies.