A public turn in the governance of infrastructure

This chapter argues that we are witnessing a public turn in the governance of infrastructure which is reinforced by the recent focus on a renewed and more central role for the state e.g. as with the response to COVID-19. This also means a renewed interest in state-owned enterprises. The public turn takes place in the public administration literature via growing recognition of the inherently public nature of much infrastructure in terms of financing, ownership and maintenance. We suggest that this public turn calls for a move from dominant performance studies of public-private partnerships as an organizational form to a broader research focus based on an institutional theoretical perspective on infrastructure governance. This transition has happened through a gradual institutionalized process during the last decade. The OECD's change in policy approach from partnerships to infrastructure governance is used an illustration. This policy change matters because there is now room for governments to adopt a more pragmatic interest in finding solutions to governing infrastructure rather than debates about what is public and what is private.