Government support for enhancing public private partnerships (PPPs)

Ondertitel:comparing, explaining and studying the effects of variations across European countries

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have gained a momentum as an important alternative solution for financing public infrastructures. Governments are said to mainly develop their support for PPPs along three dimensions: by designing policies and expressing political commitment, by articulating the legal and regulative framework and by creating supporting arrangements, called ‘PPP governmental support (PPP-GS)’. This dissertation focuses on the complex and comprehensive comparison of PPP-GS, explains variations across European countries and studies the effect thereof using fsQCA. The different PPP-GS do not necessarily come in a package or no countries have high scores for all dimensions (e.g. The UK, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium-Flanders). The highest variation between countries is on the policy and PPP-supporting arrangements, but there much less variation on the regulatory dimension, because of the coercive harmonising influence of the EU-procurement regulation. The twenty countries are grouped into four clusters regarding PPP-GS with the highest levels being Cluster 1: the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium-Flanders, and the lowest levels refer to Cluster 4; Austria, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Serbia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Hungary. The different combinations of the level of GDP per-capita, government debt, uncertainty avoidance and the administrative reform trajectory, and to a lesser extent the state structure, explains the presence of a high PPP-GS, except the UK. The typology of countries can basically be classified into six groups representing the combination of macro-institutional variables. The study of the effect of variation of PPP-GS on project outcomes focuses on contract stability (non-renegotiation) and project success. Contract stability was found in projects in which a high level of country competitiveness, joined up with a secure remuneration scheme and a young project age, combined with either a well-developed governmental PPP support or an appropriate risk allocation. The projects being on-cost can be explained by the combination of high levels of country competitiveness and PPP-GS and a more optimal financing scheme. The combination of high levels of country competitiveness, a more optimal financing scheme and a more appropriate risk allocation are sufficient conditions for achieving the on-time outcome. This dissertation gives more insight in how government can foster the development and outcomes of PPP projects by providing well-developed government support, which fits their country context.

Jaar van publicatie:2023

Trefwoorden:Doctoral thesis

Toegankelijkheid:Open