Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

In order to alleviate the pressure on government funds and improve service efficiency, the private sector is increasingly involved in the public service sector. Public-private partnerships (PPP) have developed rapidly in the past three decades through the involvement of the private sector to remedy shortage of government resources and improve public goods and services. However, whether the private sector’s pursuit of economic interests will affect the quality of its public services has been questioned. In this study, we examined the operation performance of urban sewage treatment plants in Jiangsu Province, China. Based on propensity score matching (PSM) and multiple regression methods, we evaluated the economic performance and service quality of urban sewage treatment plants under different modes (PPP and government-run). The results found that the PPP model has improved the pollutant treatment effect of urban sewage treatment plants, and also increased the sewage treatment and construction investment of sewage treatment plants.