Private organization’s moral behaviour and citizen support for public-private partnerships: evidence from a survey experiment

Drawing on the literature on legitimacy and moral values, we examine the link between private partner characteristics and citizen views of public-private partnerships (PPPs). We hypothesize that citizen perceptions of the legitimacy of a proposed PPP will vary according to how a private organization's historical behaviour aligns with or deviates from the moral values associated with social cooperation. To test this, we utilize a survey experiment. We find that citizen support for PPPs is contingent upon the degree to which a private organization exhibits behaviours aligned with a sense of community, deference, fairness, and asset ownership.