What Are Capacity Gaps?

Capacity gaps refer to an incongruity in the supply of a given resource between public- and private-sector partners. Capacity gaps can be tangible, like a gap in financial resources between partners, or more abstract, like gaps in partners' relative ability to execute or innovate. These gaps can create friction and inefficiencies between partners, and ultimately doom a partnership. Successful PPPs must be able to bridge these gaps, either by improving the capacity of the deficient partner, or by developing a structure that allows a partnership to proceed in spite of the gap.