Theoretic Trends in Private-Public Partnership Research: Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract This paper conducted detailed research on publication activity in the public-private partnership (PPP) field based on bibliometric analysis. The main aim was to research the different literature materials and systematize trends and priority fields of PPP research. Scopus tools were used to determine the dynamics of the number of indexed publications, research belonging to the country and journals, and the branch structure of publication activity on the research topic, highlighting academics’ contributions in the PPP research field by the number of citations and published papers. The search for the most relevant publications used the key concept of “private-public partnership” in titles, abstracts, and keywords in the bibliometric database Scopus for 1952 - 2022. VOSviewer software is used to build network maps of keyword compatibility, collaborate with authors by country, and measure the research time. Based on the results of the literature review, conclusions are drawn about the growing dynamics of the number of publications in the PPP field; 3 stages of scientific interest in PPP research are identified; the multidisciplinary nature of the concept under study is confirmed; the PPP term is clarified; 7 clusters that characterize the main areas of research in the field of PPP are identified; the leading countries and the most cited authors are identified by their affiliation to a particular country; it is established that the intensive development of scientific research in PPP in the countries of the world took place in the period 2010-2014; the development of PPP in CEE and Ukraine is characterized.