Over the past 30 years, there has been a marked proliferation of the use of public–private partnerships (P3s) for the management of agricultural innovation systems. This is part of a larger worldwide trend of using P3s in the provision of public goods and services. Despite the large number of agricultural P3s in operation, a literature review demonstrated paucity of both case studies and of theory, meaning that the study of these emerging business models has not kept pace with practice. Over the last 30 years, only 38 peer-reviewed articles have been published. The objective of this dissertation is to advance the theory, analysis, and policy review of agricultural P3s. There are four independent investigations in this dissertation that advance the knowledge of agricultural P3s in seven specific ways. First, these investigations introduce two quantitative methodologies to empirically demonstrate the critical role P3s occupy in research and development (R&D) innovation networks and in the development, dissemination and commercialization of new technologies that enhance global food security. Second, this analysis suggests that the key variable influencing the formation of these organizations is people, rather than public policy or market incentives. Third, agricultural P3s require large up-front investments and they have extended gestation periods; therefore, they are dependent upon public support. Fourth, P3s are not a means of privatizing public functions; rather, they represent a new and emerging process of collaboration that transcends the public–private dichotomy. Fifth, agricultural P3s appear to operate in “orphan spaces,” sectors that, for a variety of reasons, are ignored by the public and private sectors. Sixth, there is evidence to suggest that many P3s require the services of P3 experts of which there is a shortage, particularly in the developing world. Seventh, each agricultural P3 is novel because each is the result of sector-specific challenges and has a structure that is dependent upon the types and number of partners and their objectives, limiting the ability to transfer explicit lessons from existing models to new P3s.

Sweeping public sector reforms have occurred globally in recent decades. One of the more high profile and contentious strategies pursued in jurisdictions such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and more recently Canada is the radical shift to public-private infrastructure partnerships - commonly referred to in Canada as ‘P3s’. The Government of British Columbia (BC) has emerged as the leading proponent of the P3 model in Canada. The strategic shift in BC to the P3 model was introduced in 2002 by the governing Liberal party. The Liberals created Partnerships BC to spearhead the P3 program, and singled out the healthcare sector to move forward the P3 agenda. The dynamics of delivering a complex and unfamiliar business model like P3s through this new public agency, combined with the unique ecology of the healthcare system, added to the complexity of delivering a central government mandated strategic policy priority like a P3-first agenda, making for a robust case study. Focusing on the issue of public sector capacity to implement policy, this study examines how BC has transitioned from traditional procurement and operation of public infrastructure such as hospitals to the wide-spread use of P3s. The study asks questions about three independent variables of capacity related to implementation of P3 and other cross-cutting programs: governance and oversight; human resources; and, inter-agency collaboration within the public sector. Drawn from an extensive review of scholarly studies and literature, and government and consultant reports examining actual infrastructure P3 experiences and exemplary practices, these variables formed the basis of the study’s analytical model. The study employed the following multi-method (triangulation) research and data collection approach: i) an archival review of text-based government documents; ii) interviews with key public employees either directly or indirectly involved in P3 program implementation; and, iii) field observations of the principal researcher based on first-hand experiences as a senior manager in the BC government during this period. Based on the analytical model developed, the study reveals a capacity deficit in BC to adequately plan and implement a comprehensive P3 program. Based on the literature, the model establishes that central agencies play a critical role in an effective P3 policy program. So what is most noteworthy is the lack of resources and attention given to developing central agency capacity to: advance sound P3 policies; ensure ongoing program oversight and accountability; and, provide necessary guidance and support to agencies tasked with implementing very complex P3 arrangements in a multi-agency domain. For practitioners, the study validates key elements of capacity to be considered when planning and implementing major shifts in public policy. The literature review and the study’s findings also have relevance for the public administration profession through the development of the analytical framework and its application to an important contemporary public policy area. As a contribution to scholarly and academic research, this paper tests the validity and reliability of the analytical model developed and the overall methodology used, and identifies significant areas that merit further study related to the broader phenomenon of P3s and public sector capacity. / Graduate / 0617 Public Administration / mauricer@uvic.ca

MBA Professional Report / Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / The purpose of this research is to study the federal government's historical use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and their view on the issue. Then we study recent applications (case studies) of innovative financing arrangements by Hannon Armstrong, LLC, an Annapolis, Maryland based financial services firm. The intention is to build upon previous Naval Postgraduate School research efforts is this subject; specifically, expanding upon the efforts of Professor San Miguel, Shank and Summers by investigating current examples of PPPs. First, we examine Hannon Armstrong's "fee for service contract" solution to the lack of appropriated capital funds needed for a vital fiber-optic link near the Arctic Circle. Then, we will explore the history of the Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPCs), which have been a useful tool in reducing the energy consumption throughout the federal government. Historically, this program has only been used for fixed assets. There is little debate over the success of these contracts in reducing energy consumption. The authors believe that applying Energy Saving Performance Contracts to mobile assets could further reduce the energy consumption of the Department of Defense (DoD) and save tax-payers millions of dollars.

In a period of apparent new economic, political, social and cultural configurations in Western cities, a general diminution of belief in the ability of local government itself to affect significant policy change in response to the global restructuring of the economy has facilitated the emergence of new forms of urban governance in the post or neo-Fordist era, often following American models. Despite the fact that there are some differences in the interpretations of which new forms of urban governance are emerging, there appears to be a general recognition of the need for policy solutions represented by the development of partnerships and coalitions of interests ('regimes') in urban contexts, involving not only local authorities but also a range of private and semi-public actors. The rise of the entrepreneurial model among city governments also forms part of the socalled new urban politics of the post-Fordist era. Similarly, it is commonly argued that there is a growing inter-urban competition between cities for prominence as centres of consumption as one means to replace those traditional urban industrial activities which have gone into decline. This 'post-modern' strategy, including the use of a wide range of prestigious urban projects in areas of consumption such as sports, culture and leisure, has recently become commonplace in the restructuring of many Western cities. In Britain and Spain as elsewhere, some cities are using sport and leisure to drive the regeneration of their cities. Focusing on two European cities subject to large-scale deindustrialisation, Bilbao (Spain) and Sheffield (Great Britain), this thesis applies an urban regime analysis to evaluate the emergence and operation of public-private partnerships in a process of urban regeneration. This comparative study of urban politics also examines the role of sport and leisure in urban regime or coalition construction and the role of urban regimes or coalitions in the development of a sports strategy in the case of Sheffield and a cultural strategy in the case of Bilbao. Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter examines new practices and forms of urban governance, using traditional and 'new wave' urban theories, in particular the formation and operation of urban regimes and their implication for sports policy changes. The contribution of this thesis is to examine the applicability and validity of American models of urban change to the analysis of two different Western European cities that may help to understand how contemporary cities respond to contemporary urban problems. In addition, this thesis expects to expand the analysis of the role of sport in urban regime construction and the role of urban regimes in the development of sports or cultural strategies. The choice of regime theory has implications for both methodology and the subsequent interpretation of events. Thus, the third chapter addresses the general description of the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions underpinning regime theory. The fourth and fifth chapters review how urban planning and sport policies have evolved in Spain since the Spanish Civil War and in Britain since the World War II. This provides a context to the core of the thesis, which evaluate urban regime formation and operation and their implications in the development of sports strategies in Bilbao and Sheffield. The concluding chapter seeks to summarise the findings of the empirical research and relates the examples of Bilbao and Sheffield coalitions or urban regimes for economic regeneration to the nature and characterisation of contemporary urban and sports politics.

Community identity is a concept involving a web of relationships whereby a committed group of people emotionally identify with a shared set of values, norms, meanings and history. When municipalities co-operate, concerns among stakeholders can arise that potentially lead to a sense that interdependence among municipal partners can threaten a community’s independence and correspondingly community identity. The main goal of this study was to understand how the development of an inter-municipal partnership associated with the provision of a centralized multi-use recreation facility affected community identity among partnering communities. This goal was accomplished by exploring the case of Pictou County. Municipal leaders, members of the public, and local persons of influence were interviewed to gather their impression of the implications of an inter-municipal partnership for community identity. An interpretivist viewpoint guided this case study. One-on-one interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and broken down into different themes to capture the impact this case had on community identity. Findings were organized into three sections: (1) concerns about the partnership, (2) anticipated benefits, and (3) the overall implications for community identity. The findings of this case study revealed a shift in identity within the region in which the partnership took place. Although residents in each neighbouring municipality had a strong sense of community identity, the case illustrated a general shift toward a regional identity that was beginning to emerge. Study participants understood why some members of their communities were threatened by the inter-municipal partnership under investigation, but explained how the partnership created benefits that outweighed the negative impacts of co-operation. In particular, stakeholders believed the economic benefits of the partnership overshadowed any concerns about transparency or public input. This has allowed a shift in the tradition ways recreation services have traditional been offered in the county. Now instead of each municipality working as independent services providers they are now starting to work more interdependently to provide services for the municipalities. This case helps add to the body of literature involving inter-municipal partnerships and provide the opportunity for future research to be conducted on topics such as geographic identity and interscetionality. As well, the case provides insight to future practitioners when they are conducting research to understand that citizen participation is important in a project like this but it may be less significant than if the primary interest, such as economic interests, of the community members if initially managed. Addressing these interests should help lessen the chance of resistance forming later in the project.

Despite calls for concerted, two-way engagement and for the development of reciprocal partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHE's) and their communities, IHE's continue to implement a disparate menu of activities that prove largely ineffective at addressing society's most challenging social and environmental problems. A relatively new conception of engagement lays out a framework by which IHE's engage with communities in democratic ways. Democratic engagement values inclusive, reciprocal problem-oriented work that brings together university and community stakeholders as co-generators of knowledge and solutions. The resulting democratically engaged partnerships position diverse members to take on roles as collaborators and problem solvers. They are mutually transformed through the processes of reciprocation, power diffusion, and knowledge generation. <br>How these democratically oriented roles and processes emerge and come to be enacted is unknown. Neither the literature on democratic engagement nor that on community-university partnerships addresses this gap. This dissertation study purposefully selected a case of community-university partnership that has a high degree of democratic engagement. Through interviews, observation, and document review, qualitative evidence was collected of the ways in which the roles and processes of democratically engaged partnerships emerged and were enacted. Atlas.ti 6.2 was used to code and retrieve themes related to democratic and technocratic engagement, stakeholder roles and processes, and the emergence and application of roles and processes. <br>Understanding how democratically oriented roles and processes emerge and are adopted is critical to building democratically engaged partnerships that support systems of democratic engagement. If we do not know how to be democratic within our partnerships, and if we cannot teach others, we will not be able to answer the calls for more purposeful, reciprocal engagement with our communities. / School of Education / Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program for Education Leaders (IDPEL) / EdD / Dissertation

This thesis investigates the accounting and other practices performed as part of trials experienced by interested actors in forming a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Prompted by the high visibility of PPP schemes and a lack of understanding about the situated roles and effects of accounting and other practices in motivating and appraising such schemes, two practice-oriented research problems are investigated. Firstly, how does an ambition for a PPP scheme form in particular times and places. Secondly, what is the agency of accounting and other appraisal processes in trialling a proposed PPP scheme. Following an introductory section, this thesis proceeds via three papers. The first paper reviews the extant accounting-related literature on PPP schemes along five research themes adapted from Broadbent & Laughlin (1999, 2004), highlighting the literary contributions and future research opportunities in this area. The second and third papers focus on the experiences of interested actors in trialling possibilities for a public housing PPP in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), using field-based research. The aim of the second paper is to understand how an ambition for a PPP can become accepted through efforts to ??envisage value?? for such schemes in particular times and places. The third paper investigates the roles and effects of accounting and other appraisal practices mobilised to translate an ambition for a PPP scheme into an agreement that promises a ??Value for Money?? (VFM) outcome. Collectively, these papers contribute to extant knowledge about the involvement of accounting and other practices in the performance of ??value?? in PPP schemes by: (i) illustrating how an ambition for a PPP scheme forms through ??envisaging value??; (ii) explicating the agency of accounting and other practices in conferring VFM with situated meaning; (iii) contradicting the dominant status attributed to the involvement of accounting calculations in PPP schemes; and (iv) highlighting the various ways in which interested actors can cope with and act in the face of significant uncertainties. Overall, these contributions further our understanding of how proposed PPP schemes are (per)formed through the complex of activities (including accounting) and interests tied to the achievement of such schemes.

This thesis examines the financing and construction arrangements of the recently designed Airport Link project in Brisbane, Australia. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that the equity risk premium, combined with the public nature of toll roads, makes private financing of this kind of public infrastructure undesirable. It attempts to test this hypothesis by valuing the project under standard CAPM and WACC frameworks, and then modelling the sensitivity of the project’s value to different assumptions regarding traffic flows, inflation, asset risk, and errors in operating-cost forecasts. The results show that with large equity contributions the project is inherently unstable and given the finance structure, was always susceptible to a downward price spiral of the type observed. The thesis then models the project value under a public finance option and concludes that this is a more beneficial option for investors, the government, and the community alike.

This thesis examines the financing and construction arrangements of the recently designed Airport Link project in Brisbane, Australia. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that the equity risk premium, combined with the public nature of toll roads, makes private financing of this kind of public infrastructure undesirable. It attempts to test this hypothesis by valuing the project under standard CAPM and WACC frameworks, and then modelling the sensitivity of the project’s value to different assumptions regarding traffic flows, inflation, asset risk, and errors in operating-cost forecasts. The results show that with large equity contributions the project is inherently unstable and given the finance structure, was always susceptible to a downward price spiral of the type observed. The thesis then models the project value under a public finance option and concludes that this is a more beneficial option for investors, the government, and the community alike.

In the past decade efforts to develop spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) have migrated from the initial “top-down” national approaches to “bottom-up” and cross jurisdictional efforts at the sub-national level. Although national SDI developments are fundamental to building the SDI culture and policy, it is sub-national and local SDI development that will deliver the immediate benefits to citizens and the community. In countries which have highly decentralised federations of states such as Australia, United States and Canada, the challenge is how to co-ordinate the literally thousands of often small local government jurisdictions which are important contributors to state and local SDIs. In recent years, a number of co-operative spatial data sharing partnerships between local and state government have emerged in various countries around the world. These partnerships are relatively new initiatives that have been established to facilitate more effective sharing of spatial data between organisations, but also as a mechanism to contribute to SDI development. To maximise the benefits from these partnerships it is essential to understand the factors that contribute to their successful operation and sustainability. Therefore, the focus of this research is to understand these collaborative arrangements so that future data sharing initiatives can be improved and sustained.