Edinburgh Napier University

  While the UK has been a leader in the large-scale introduction of public private partnerships (PPPs) across the economy, both Austria and Germany have been relative latecomers within the recent move towards PPPs. This paper analyses the issues driving PPPs and in particular it compares the experiences in Austria, Germany and the UK. The major of motives for moving towards PPPs are macro-economic or budgetary, especially in Germany and Austria, but also micro-economic or improving the efficiency of public service delivery, especially in the UK. The paper then considers the imposition of constraints on policy decisions by PPPs and analyses the potential macro-economic, including the implications in terms of the tax to GDP-ratios.