Following the privatization of public companies that began in most market economies in the 1980s, public facilities such as highways, hospitals, and prisons have seen their financing, construction, maintenance, and/or operation delegated to private companies. How can this phenomenon be interpreted? To what extent does it reflect an evolution in the role of the State rooted in the neoliberal paradigm? This paper answers these questions through a case study of the Chilean policy over road concessions. It adopts a long historical perspective going back to 1835, when the first public works concessions law was passed, up to 2010. The theoretical framework rests upon the concept of path dependency and a perspective rooted in historical institutionalism. The paper shows that the design and implementation of concessions in Chile is largely explained by factors related to the country?s institutional legacy. It argues that public-private partnerships (PPPs) should not be viewed as a sign of an evolution in the role of the Chilean state but rather as an instrument enabling the State to play its traditional role, which is to set the necessary conditions for the country?s development.