Local Industrial Partnerships: Exploring the Logics of Public-Private Partnerships

Abstract

One of the most obvious questions concerning Public-Private partnerships for local economic development is to what extent they essentially make a difference with regard to boosting the local economy. Previous chapters have discussed different rationales of such partnerships. This chapter looks at the actual performance of Public-Private partnerships for local economic development by testing a couple of hypotheses about the roles of Public-Private partnerships. The chapter argues that Public-Private partnerships enhance the capabilities of local authorities to implement their economic development strategies. Also, partnerships tend to make these authorities more inclined to develop networks with other municipalities as well as political institutions at the regional and national levels. In sum, partnerships seem to make a positive difference with respect to how local authorities promote local economic development. The analysis draws on questionnaire data on local economic development policies and actions in the Swedish municipalities (see Appendix).