The Rise and Fall of Public–Private Partnerships

This book explores how the private sector has long been expected to mobilize finance into much needed infrastructure investment in developing countries. This insightful book is a detailed exploration of the World Bank’s initial promotion of public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a solution, and evaluates their insufficient performance over the past decades.

James Leigland expertly delves into the past 30 years of PPP advocacy to argue that blind faith in PPPs has led to a failure to deal with the main obstacles to infrastructure investment in the developing world. Investigating the successes and inadequacies of PPPs over the years, Leigland demonstrates that over-reliance on, and unreserved promotion of, these projects will not close the infrastructure gap in developing countries. Leigland goes on to suggest alternatives to PPPs that would allow for cost-effective financing and management of infrastructure, that would help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.



The Rise and Fall of Public–Private Partnerships is essential reading for practitioners, policy makers and those who are actively funding campaigns to promote PPPs in developing countries. It will also be of substantial interest to organisations and scholars, questioning and exploring the use of PPPs in this under researched area.