Eliciting the anchor link for building public-private collaboration in sustainable energy: insights from the Finnish context

This article interrelates social, environmental, and technological aspects concerning public-private collaboration. The aim is to decipher the motivations and reluctance factors that prompt or limit building synergies between actors with divergent incentives and better understand the connection between the individual-level sensemaking and macro-level constructs regarding public-private collaboration in a specific socio-cultural context. Following the microfoundations movement in strategy and Organizational Theory, the study combines insights from sensemaking research and Social Exchange Theory to delve into how cultural context influences individuals' perception of public-private collaboration for the energy transition and ultimately defines its nature. Drawing from a case study in Finland based on 30 interviews, we identify six critical dimensions in the actors' discourse: 1) the role of trust in decision-making, 2) consensus and competition, 3) horizontality, 4) boosting innovations versus the challenges of public and private sectors, 5) acceptability of arrangements and public funding, and 6) the role of public-private collaboration in the decarbonization. These dimensions shed light on the influence of the socio-cultural context in enhancing trust and consensus as drivers of social exchange in public-private collaboration. Future studies should explore 1) enabling mechanisms for cross-context collaboration and 2) the roles and motivations in collaborative approaches. • Public-private collaboration could unlock resources for innovations in sustainable energy systems. • Understanding the influence of cultural contexts is essential for public-private collaborations. • The perception of closeness, trust and consensus promotes social exchange between actors. • Finnish public-private collaboration in sustainable energy fosters avenues of innovation from formal to informal agreements.