They say it takes two to dance. And if the current government has prioritized the achievement of private investments in the construction and management of public goods and services, it must approach what has been done so far in this regard differently. There are three areas in which the public-private participation model for investment and management of public goods and services must be innovated: the rules of the game (institutional framework) between participating entities; organizational abilities of those who will lead processes and operational models of goods and services to be delegated.

There are business opportunities

As for the rules of the game, there is an urgent need to simplify the number of consents and processes for achieving private investment and participation in this issue. But it is no less important to define and adequately fulfill the roles that correspond to public and private. This role design must be guided by what is called “three-story institutionality”, proposed by Michael Huberts, Ronald van der Veen and Arie de Ruijter in their book The institutionality of three levels: designing the roles of public and private entities in regional development (2008).

In simple words, in this case, the public entity must have a measure of management of investments and operation of public goods and services. This implies internal planning, control, reward or sanction capabilities. It requires that the delegated management authority to be awarded (called a ministry, prefecture or municipality) must create for itself a reliable design that reveals, with reasonable certainty, the investment, operating costs and expected effects of private participation. This will allow the establishment of ideal legal models and processes for maximum efficiency of private intervention. It will have agile instruments for management, control and compensation of the performance of private business of public goods. That they will have honest and professional human teams that will defend the public interest, able to focus private partners on meeting the agreed goals as the only way to get the benefits that their investment deserves.

There is no money

Scoliosis and anemia

The delegated private entity occupies the second floor of this institutional model: it is its operator. If the governing body fulfills the role and functions recommended above, the private entity will have a project in front of it with a lower level of uncertainty in return on investment, in cooperation procedures and expected results of its participation. This will encourage its long-term vision, the building of specialized resources and the growing sophistication of the service, all for the benefit of the user population, the center of the third floor of this model of public-private intervention.

Let these institutional, organizational and operational requirements contribute to legitimizing private participation in the work of public services. That the expected success of the application of this model generalizes private participation in investment and operation of public services. Dance! (OR)