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Maximising real efficiency benefit (REB) is currently being replaced with access to private finance as core public–private partnership (PPP) adoption motive. This later choice focusses on short-term performance, compromising REB and the procurement of infrastructure that meets the need of the present and future generations, which the former accomplishes. The paper aims to review these observed changes to understand the rationales and significance behind such switch.

Secondary data powered exploratory study. Deployed X-inefficiency theory to triangulate and reduce bias and select country cases to provide the proper foundation for the descriptive “what happened?” question, such as “what was the failure concerns with a particular adoption choice?”

The shift to accessing private finance adoption motive against REB failed to improve PPP project performance or meet efficiency and sustainability. Instead, it allows the private sector to assume financial risk without synergistic monitoring from the government to determine their contractual and commitment trust level, which would help achieve the five-dimensional sustainable performance measurement system for PPP. This led to the struggles of PPP projects in Portugal and Spain, where cost overruns and high demand forecast led to project failures. A recommendation, blended finance with its technical assistance additionality, is considered pivotal to addressing access to private finance motive shortcomings.

This study improves best practices for new and existing adopters by systematically establishing that adoption ideology is a cardinal variable that influences PPP project success. When not correctly adopted, it can make the most successful structured projects face complexities and uncertainty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on third sector performance measurement system design.

A systematic literature review was undertaken. The abstracts of 917 articles identified from a database search were examined and, of these, 110 papers were put forward for full paper review. Totally, 55 papers were subsequently selected for the literature synthesis.

The findings examine the important questions of why and how the performance of third sector organizations is measured. The analysis of the sample of works suggests a potential methodological mismatch between the rationale for measuring the performance of third sector organizations and the measurement methods that are currently employed.

The study raises provocative questions about the usefulness of third sector performance measurement approaches, which may lead third sector managers to critically examine current practice.

As the papers in the synthesis are drawn from a broad range of journals, the review provides a multi-disciplinary discussion of the key themes of third sector performance measurement system design. Recent studies have been published simultaneously, suggesting that there has been limited opportunity for synthesis of this work. This study therefore offers a springboard for further research in this area.

Details a behavioral theory of economic welfare that overlaps and extends the global theoretical framework contained in Pareto Optimality, with significant public policy implications. The essence of this framework is contained in Adam Smith’s the Wealth of Nations where it is argued that the economic welfare of society cannot be augmented if the material level of well‐being of the working population is reduced, even if the economy experiences growth. Moreover, it is argued that there need not be an equity‐efficiency trade‐off in a competitive market economy to the extent that wages positively affect productivity and do not increase production costs. Therefore, shifting from a low to a high wage economy is welfare improving. Smith, in effect, argues that one can have economic ‘justice’ and economic efficiency where the former is necessary to the latter. The behavioral model of economic welfare paints a dynamic picture of economic welfare in contradistinction to the static framework provided by Pareto Optimality wherein the conditions of Pareto Optimality need not be violated.

Promoters of performance measurement are convinced that performance measurement can greatly contribute to an efficiency boost in the field of public services. The purpose of this article is to treat this as a hypothesis and examine this hypothesis from various theoretical perspectives.

After some introductory remarks dealing with terminology, the article examines the potential offered by performance measurement and performance‐based contracting for increasing the efficiency of public service delivery. As a framework for this investigation, several theories are used in order to obtain a theory‐driven answer.

The majority of the theories applied are sceptical about the assumption that performance measurement will act as an efficiency driver. All in all an ambivalent picture prevails.

Further research is required into the factors which ensure that performance measurement will function as an efficiency driver for public services. Also, the empirical basis which investigates the relationship between performance measurement and efficiency is, up to now, very slim.

This paper looks into the chances of performance measurement – a central plank of new public management – as an efficiency driver. That performance measurement contributes significantly to an increase in efficiency is often articulated in official documents. This belief is treated throughout the paper as a hypothesis. The chances performance measurement may offer are examined from various theoretical angles. On a theoretical level, the paper contributes to obtaining a clearer picture of the potential performance measurement may offer.

Argues for a reorientation of economic theory around the concept of co‐operative production. Suggests that by definition, co‐operative production exists when different people take different, complementary roles in production. Argues that, while the proposed reorientation has clear roots in the ideas of Adam Smith, it also synthesizes several other key insights of the classical economists, and at the same time leads, by implication, both to the major topics of neoclassical economics and to some important topics of modern applied economics that are often treated in an ad hoc fashion, such as economies of agglomeration, dualism in development and X‐inefficiency.

The attraction of public private partnerships (PPPs) for governments is that the on-ground fructification of infrastructure projects is far higher than the traditional implementation route through public sector or departmental undertakings. Besides, time overruns are also considerably reduced. However, empirical evidence does not clearly establish that PPPs are cost efficient. This coupled with the risk intensity has impacted the long run flow of private capital to infrastructure PPPs and it therefore calls for a more scientific approach to management of profitability related risks. Appropriate management control systems (MCS) could be the answer, provided they can favorably impact profitability. Aggregating data from road, ports, airports, urban infrastructure, railways and power PPP ventures implemented in India, this chapter attempts to study the relationship between MCS and returns to sponsors through regression analysis. The study concludes that multiple MCS have a significant relationship with sponsors’ profitability.

Since the early 1980s there have been fundamental changes in the structure and management of the UK public sector, based on the introduction of quasi‐markets. The literature suggests that, for markets to operate at their maximum level of efficiency, there is an overwhelming need for entrepreneurial activity. Attempts through a synthesis of the published literature, surveys of educational and health managers and case examples, to determine whether a new strain of leadership ‐ the public sector entrepreneur ‐ is emerging to display many of the characteristics of their business counterparts.

With rapid social development and deepening division of labor, more and more complex projects are required to be carried out in a team form. When evaluating team performance, previous research has usually treated team as a united entity. However, the operating environment of the team has a significant impact on its members and the interaction between them greatly influences the team's efficiency. To better evaluate team performance, we propose a circle loop to illustrate the relationship between the operating environment of the team and its members. A two-stage DEA model with feedback is developed to evaluate the team performance, together with the efficiencies of the operating environment and team members as well as their impacts on overall efficiency. Various conditions of the team are discussed to illustrate that team performance depends on the assumption of the conditions.

Alongside public agencies and private firms, non‐profit organizations (NPOs) play a vital role in the delivery of human services in a number of advanced nations. The purpose of this paper is to advance a theory of leadership to try to explain how NPOs can overcome the various forms of voluntary sector failure described by Salamon.

Examines the conditions under which leadership style is likely to prevail and the influence they are likely to have on the direction of local government reform.

Advances a theory of leadership to better understand this problem and its implications for public policy.

Adds to existing literature by demonstrating that leadership can ameliorate some kinds of voluntary sector failure.