The Key to Impact? How Social Measurement Affects Public–Private Partnership Contracts

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are pivotal in addressing societal challenges and enhancing public value. The evolution of PPPs, particularly through outcome-based contracts (OBCs), underscores their focus on generating tangible benefits while linking financial resources with impact. However, the potential of PPPs is often challenged by contractual issues, conflicting objectives and lack of trust between public and private actors, leading to opportunistic behaviours. Social impact measurement (SIM) emerges as a potential management tool to address these contract-related challenges by fostering transparency, accountability and credibility. However, the literature is rarely focused on the practical implementation of SIM as a management instrument and on its role in affect relationship dynamics and value creation. This study aims to address this gap by exploring a SIM negotiation process in a PPP using a process tracing methodology. The findings suggest that if SIM is applied as a managerial tool, with specific characteristics such as an independent evaluator, a participatory approach to measurement construction, and knowledge exchange, could help to align stakeholders with PPP objectives.