Public-Private Innovation (PPI) Partnerships can generate innovative approaches to improving public services. However, incomplete contract theories point to difficulties in making public-private collaborations work effectively and efficiently. Drawing on these theories, we analyze the transfer of the management of a children's social services department in a large metropolitan government in England to an “improvement partnership” between the local government and two private firms. Using a synthetic control method approach, we find little evidence of improved health or educational outcomes for looked after children during the years following the creation of the partnership. However, there appears to be an increase in the costs of providing children's social services, which documentary evidence suggests may be attributable to weak contract management capacity, difficulties embedding performance monitoring, and additional expenditures on the partnership's reform programme. Our findings therefore highlight that effective supervision of PPI partnerships is essential for making them a success.

中文翻译：

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公私创新伙伴关系能否改善公共服务？来自综合控制方法的证据

公私创新 (PPI) 伙伴关系可以产生改进公共服务的创新方法。然而，不完全契约理论指出了使公私合作有效和高效运作的困难。借鉴这些理论，我们分析了英国大都市政府儿童社会服务部门的管理转移到当地政府和两家私营公司之间的“改善合作伙伴关系”。使用综合控制方法方法，我们发现在建立伙伴关系后的几年中，几乎没有证据表明被照顾儿童的健康或教育成果有所改善。然而，提供儿童社会服务的成本似乎有所增加，文件证据表明，这可能归因于合同管理能力薄弱、难以嵌入绩效监控以及伙伴关系改革计划的额外支出。因此，我们的研究结果强调，对 PPI 伙伴关系的有效监督对于使它们取得成功至关重要。