Public Value in Privatization: The Military Housing Privatization Initiative of 1996

Abstract

This case study examines the public value created by the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) of 1996. It applies Moore’s (2005) theoretical proposition that public managers should create public value to one example of social infrastructure privatization, military family housing. Under the MHPI, the United States Department of Defense conveyed its domestic inventory of largely inadequate family housing to private entities in order to accelerate revitalization of the housing and to reduce the long-term costs of operations and management. This study examines whether the program’s public purpose, public-private governance, and public value measurement were appropriately aligned and whether any misalignment of those program elements caused problems, which in turn reduced public value creation. The key findings are identified and an analytical framework in which to evaluate public and private co-production of infrastructure is provided.