Unsolicited Proposals in Public-Private Partnerships: a Conceptual View

Abstract

Introduction. A well-developed infrastructure is key to the success of any business or country. It stimulates economic development, cost reduction, mobility and access to basic services. In order to speed up the development of infrastructure, governments around the world have turned to a tool such as the Public Private Partnership (PPP). PPPs can be initiated either by a public party, which involves competitive bidding (solicited proposals), or by a private investor, in which case the mechanism is called unsolicited proposals (USP). This article attempts to conceptualise the validity of the practical implementation of USP in PPPs. It focuses on identifying the motives of the parties, the organisational mechanisms used, and the benefits and limitations of USP. The study takes into account existing world practice and data from peer-reviewed scientific journals.Methods. The study is based on a literature review of peer-reviewed scientific articles indexed in citation databases such as Scopus, Web of Science and eLibrary.Ru. In addition, data from open sources such as the Rosinfra reports and the World Bank Group’s “Private Participation in Infrastructure” database have been used.Results. The analysis showed that the results of USP are associated with (1) a number of conflicting motives of public and private parties, (2) the specificities of the organisational approach, and (3) a possible set of positive or negative outcomes. This explains, in our view, the uneven use of USP by groups of countries with different levels of economic development. As a result, we propose the conceptual scheme of the use of USP in PPPs.Discussion. The results are in line with the data of other researchers and point to the potential and prospects for further use of USP in PPPs. Further research will be devoted to collecting and processing statistical data on the results of UPS in a number of countries. This will allow a more rational approach to the development of organisational and management mechanisms for the implementation of PPP projects based on USP. This will ensure maximum socio-economic impact.