Pre-contractual relational governance for public–private partnerships
How can ex-ante relational governance help formal contracting in smart city outsourcing projects
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9963737 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rui Mu (0000-0002-5910-1354, Dalian University of Technology), Peiyi Wu (0000-0001-7867-736X, Beihang University, corresponding author), Maidina Haershan (Dalian University of Technology) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 112-128 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Review of Administrative Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-8523 • E-ISSN: 1461-7226 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00208523211059643 |
| OpenAlex | W3216517593 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
In the literature on relational governance, it is often assumed that relational governance emerges primarily after formal contracting and acts as a functional supplement to a formal contract. In this article, we show that especially facing deep uncertainties, relational governance can emerge before the start of formal partnerships, in the form of trust-building, exchanging resources, and fostering flexibility. Based on a case study of a smart city outsourcing project, this article introduces a forward-extended framework of relational governance that captures the pre-contractual dimensions of relationship cultivation and their role in facilitating formal contracting. The study finds that pre-contractual relational governance facilitates formal contracting by reducing substantive, evaluative, technological, and procedural uncertainties in the project and helps the partners to design an elaborative contract, undergo an easy negotiation, adopt short-term contracts, and use simple monitoring and evaluation methods. The article thus argues that only understanding post-contractual relational governance is insufficient for exploring the relation between formal contracting and relational governance; facing deep uncertainties, it is necessary to understand how public and private parties develop their pre-contractual relationship and reduce the uncertainties before a formal contract can be signed. Points for practitioners Practitioners should realize that there is much room for relational governance in the pre-contractual phase of PPP projects when the projects are rife with various uncertainties. Public and private parties can take measures to build trust, foster flexibility, and create interdependence before a formal contract is signed. These ex-ante relational governance measures can facilitate formal contracting by reducing the various uncertainties, making a formal contract designable, making negotiation smooth and easy, and reducing the need for contract supervision
Business · Corporate governance · Economics · Ex-ante · Flexibility (engineering · Industrial organization · Knowledge management · Management · Microeconomics · Negotiation · Outsourcing · Political science · Public relations · Relational contract · Computer Science · Finance · Law · Marketing · Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management · Public Procurement and Policy · Public-Private Partnership Projects
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Economic Action and Social Structure
Governing the smart city
The Entangled Twins
Relational Mechanisms in Complex Contracting
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Mix and Match
Non-Contractual Relations in Business
Smart Cities and Green Growth
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |