Phyu, H. T. (2026) A systematic review of transparency in public-private partnerships: Current trends and future research directions. International Journal of Construction Management, 26(9), pp. 1905-1924. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Despite increasing public demand for greater transparency to enhance accountability in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding efforts to improve transparency, its evolution, and its interaction with other influencing factors. This study aims to address these gaps through a comprehensive literature review, identifying current trends, emerging themes, and theoretical and methodological gaps in PPP/PFI research. A systematic review of 67 articles (2010–2022) was conducted using the Scopus database, with analysis conducted via NVivo and Biblioshiny. The author/s define six key themes and propose a conceptual framework that highlights the interconnected nature of governance, transparency, accountability, and stakeholder participation and risk, demonstrating how these elements collectively drive project success and build long-term stakeholder trust in PPP. This is the first review to offer a comprehensive overview of research themes on transparency in PPPs. It identifies prevalent trends in transparency while highlighting underexplored areas, topics, theories, and research methods. The review provides a roadmap for future research and theoretical development, as well as practical guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers aiming to enhance transparency and accountability in PPP/PFI governance.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accountability; governance; literature review; private finance initiative; public-private partnerships; transparency |
| Index terms: | influencing factor, literature review, transparency, practitioner, governance, partnership, private finance initiative, systematic literature review, conceptual framework, database, stakeholder participation, interaction, accountability, project success, evolution |
| Subjects: | data management, risk assessment, theoretical framing, project management theory and practice, behavioral psychology, research evaluation and metrics, professional development, business, practitioner, data analysis and analytics, community and social dimensions, environmental science, liability law, contractual arrangements, partnership management |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Legal Issues, Information Management, Governance, Risk Management, Digital Applications, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here