Public–private partnerships (P3s) have continued to grow in importance both as an alternative infrastructure delivery model and a management practice in many jurisdictions and across institutional contexts. This study draws on the institutional work perspective to investigate the nature and form of micro-activities that interact to cement a policy through the examination of the implementation of P3s as a management practice. The study advances our understanding of how the micro-activities of governmental agents and actors affect the development, codification, and support structures of P3s. We adopt a multi-location, field-based case approach and a diversified institutional setting presented by P3-adopting regions in the United States. We deploy an institutional work perspective to identify the micro-activities that are undertaken as part of the P3 routinisation and acceptance process. Following Perkmann and Spicer's classification, and consistent with the concept of institutional work (Lawrence & Suddaby), we find that the ordinary day-to-day micro-activities undertaken by government employees, categorised as political work, technical work, and cultural work, are structurally, strategically, and intentionally deployed to achieve the successful implementation of P3s. In addition, we uncover a complementary managerial micro-activity undertaken alongside institutional work, what we term organisational restructuring, as part of the composite of activities that facilitate a successful P3 implementation. We suggest that the nature, extent, and impact of ordinary government employee micro-activities on the implementation and acceptance of P3s deserve further empirical inquiry.

中文翻译：

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隐形参与者：了解公共部门雇员在美国发展公私合作伙伴关系中的微观活动

公私合作伙伴关系 (P3) 在许多司法管辖区和跨机构环境中作为替代基础设施交付模式和管理实践的重要性不断增长。本研究借鉴了机构工作透视调查微观活动的性质和形式，通过检查 P3s 作为管理实践的实施来巩固政策。该研究加深了我们对政府代理人和参与者的微观活动如何影响 P3 的发展、编纂和支持结构的理解。我们采用美国 P3 采用地区提供的多地点、基于实地的案例方法和多样化的制度设置。我们采用机构工作视角来确定作为 P3 常规化和接受过程的一部分而进行的微观活动。遵循 Perkmann 和 Spicer 的分类，并符合机构工作的概念（Lawrence & Suddaby），政治工作、技术工作和文化工作，在结构上、战略上和有意识地部署，以实现 P3 的成功实施。此外，我们还发现了与机构工作一起开展的补充性管理微观活动，我们称之为组织重组，作为促进成功实施 P3 的活动组合的一部分。我们认为，普通政府雇员微观活动对 P3 实施和接受的性质、程度和影响值得进一步实证研究。