Delivery Of Public Infrastructure Research Articles

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROCUREMENT TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY: ASSESSING THE MANAGERIAL CAPABILITIES OF PUBLIC-SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN AFRICA

The lingering imbalance between infrastructural services demand and supply poses serious threats to the fiscal budget balance from contingent liabilities of African countries. Despite the increasing private investment commitments and adoption of public-private partnership procurement (PPP) options to address the widening infrastructure gaps in Africa, the failure in the delivery of public infrastructure projects is yet a common phenomenon. This study therefore examined the managerial capabilities of public-sector organizations (PSOs), who steer the provisions of public infrastructure, to investigate their readiness to achieve the value for money from private funding and the benefits of PPP options. The study conducted a self-study structured questionnaire survey on professionals in PSOs in Africa, particularly Nigeria, who have been directly involved in the delivery of public infrastructure projects via PPP. The professionals were purposively sampled and the primary data obtained was subjected to descriptive and inferential analysis. The study revealed that the PSOs have internalized about 41 PPP-capabilities for the delivery of public infrastructure projects. Up to 40 PPP-capabilities were exhibited on an average score (41-60%) level, with mean score (MS) value range of 3.13 ≤ MS ≤ 3.70, for the public projects procured. The study established the existence of significant interdependence of p < 0.001, which indicated sufficient correlation between 31 PPP-capabilities and explained the 10 main components of managerial capabilities possessed by the PSOs. Some of the components clustered around public infrastructure planning and adaptability to PPP programme, project delivery parameters and control, suitable public infrastructure procurement knowledge, public policy awareness and innovation, and governance. The study provides information crucial for public infrastructure delivery success towards sustainable national economic recovery and development.

Exploring constraining factors for use of private sector finance in delivery of public sector infrastructure in Tanzania: A qualitative study

While governments remain accountable for the delivery of infrastructure services, given the paucity of public resources, studies have recommended the use of private sector finance (PSF) as an alternative approach to delivering sustainable infrastructure both in developed and developing economies. Despite the recommendation, there has been very little use of PSF in delivering public projects, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this study explores the constraining factors for the use of PSF in the delivery of public infrastructure in Tanzania and proposes recommendations. A total of 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with different stakeholders delivering public infrastructure services. Interviewees were purposefully selected. Data were analyzed through conceptual content analysis. The findings reveal that the top five constraining factors were inadequate knowledge and skills, lack of policy to support or suffice PSF, bureaucracy or delays of approvals, lack of proper models for PSF, and lack of skilled people or existence of a big national skill gap. Thus, the identified constraints provided useful insights and were used as a road map for suggesting appropriate solutions to enhance the use of PSF. Furthermore, this is the first study to empirically explore the constraining factors for PSF in delivering infrastructure projects in the Tanzanian context.

Public-private partnership in Alberta, Canada: a path dependence perspective

PurposeIn this study, the authors revisit Alberta's public-private partnership (P3) program after 20 years of field level experience by retracing its historical emergence and institutional evolution given its political context. Specifically, the authors adopt a path dependence perspective to reconstruct and reexamine Alberta's P3 program emergence, reflect on the successes achieved, and articulate challenges that must be overcome to institutionalize P3s as part of Alberta's infrastructure delivery environment in the future.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a constructivist approach and a case-based methodology, the authors (re)analyze the activities of governmental agents, private industry, and other actors as part of a new infrastructure policy introduced in 2002 to transform the provincial institutional landscape to accommodate P3.FindingsThe authors find Alberta's P3 emergence was driven by the necessity of its infrastructure deficits, political expediency, and resource scarcity. Furthermore, with well-entrenched conservative political actors as gatekeepers, Alberta's P3 implementation demonstrated stability and incremental change simultaneously, consistent with core elements of path dependency. Following the introduction of P3 in Alberta, the province lacked formal institutional structures that would transition its P3 program from good to great and enable it to become firmly embedded in the public infrastructure delivery landscape. With the subsequent absence of P3-convinced (political) leadership and uncertainty about its P3 policy direction, Alberta was unable or unwilling to consolidate the progress made at the start of the program.Originality/valueMost recently, the emergence of new political leadership in Alberta has (re)catalyzed policy progress, pointing toward a more methodical program approach, and suggesting a rediscovered confidence in P3s in the province with the establishment of a P3 Office (P3O), including nascent formal rules for unsolicited bids. These recent changes in our view make for a much more anchored policy and could lead to program sustainability and eventual institutionalization. Given the unpredictability of the recent political change, a more robust analysis of the relationship between political party control, leadership, and P3 stability is required to anticipate future policy and organizational obstacles.

Reforming procurement standards in order to effectively deliver public infrastructure: Rethinking the regulatory environment in post-pandemic South Africa

This research study identifies a specific layer of regulation within the governance regime which is a key factor impeding the procurement and delivery of public infrastructure in South Africa. We first identify current weaknesses of conflict and confusion at the level of soft law in the procurement and delivery of public infrastructure projects. Then we present a detailed case study of a successful South African megaproject (the procurement and delivery of the public infrastructure for two new universities, the New Universities Project) to demonstrate that these weaknesses can be avoided. The research note’s regulatory account focuses on the key element of quality in the South African public procurement regime, distinguishing that concept from the often conflated notion of value-for-money. We discuss how the problems identified could be addressed by means of changes to soft law prior to the finalisation of the current and ongoing public procurement legislative reform process.Contribution: Through a case study of the on-time and with-budget public procurement and delivery of two new universities for South Africa, the article demonstrated that national policy on public infrastructure can be successfully implemented, with attention to the key soft law layer of regulation.

Building space for transparency in Honduras: Lessons from the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative CoST

The recent history of Honduras is marked by limitations in transparency and accountability, with civic engagement far behind other Latin American countries. The experience of CoST Honduras offers valuable insights to understand how a policy space was created to incorporate open information and social participation in the delivery of public infrastructure. Applying a multi-method approach that combined desk review, qualitative interviews and a process tracing analysis, the research demonstrates how a policy window, combined with a design and implementation sensitive to the nuances of context, were used to sustain momentum for future change efforts. The findings show real shifts in political agency, in the politics of engagement and in society’s capacity to coordinate and act.

Is Ppp the New Firepower For Islamic Finance That Will Accelerate Progress Towards (SDGS)?

Having access to essential infrastructure services is pivotal in creating economic opportunities and bringing social services to the poor. Their deficiency leads to a number of negative consequences and lost opportunities (the World Bank indicates that currently 1 billion people live without electricity, 663 million people lack access to safe drinking water, 840 million people are located more than 2 kilometers from all-weather roads, and 4 billion people cannot access the Internet). The systematization of the results of World Bank research proved that lower-and middle-income countries need to spend on average 4.5 percent of GDP to deliver infrastructure services and achieve the infrastructure-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The urgency of solving this problem lies in the fact that in many countries, the high levels of investment required for infrastructure cannot be financed by the public purse alone. Therefore, the governments of these countries should pay attention to private investments as a tool for additional fundraising. The article presents the results of the analysis, which proved that the Private-Public Partnership has increasingly become a common structure for the delivery of public infrastructure. It offers the opportunity for governments and nongovernmental bodies to achieve more efficient projects by sharing risks and giving the private sector a chance to bring innovation to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of public infrastructure. The study theoretically proves that public-private partnership offers monetary and non-monetary advantages for the public sector, in particular: allowing the allocation of public funds for other local priorities, distributing project risks to both public and private sectors, improved efficiency and project implementation processes in delivering services to the public, emphasizes Value for Money (VfM) – focusing on reduced costs, better risk allocation, faster implementation, improved services and possible generation of additional revenue. In the paper, based on a comparative analysis of conventional bonds and Sukuk (Islamic bonds), it was concluded that conventional bonds represent the issuer’s pure debt, while the latter offers multiple benefits: lower costs of funds due to higher rating via credit enhancement, access to the capital markets, diversification of funding sources, off-balance sheet financing (via securitization), improvement of financial ratios, and potential risk reduction.

An Evaluation of Project Risk Dynamics in Sino-Africa Public Infrastructure Delivery; A Causal Loop and Interpretive Structural Modelling Approach (ISM-CLD)

Africa’s growth in public infrastructure provision has been fueled by the collective effort of the government authority and foreign private investors. China, through state-owned corporations, has become one of the leading infrastructure financier springing up numerous projects in transport, energy, oil and gas, water, and sewage sectors in Africa. Infrastructure procurement in developing countries comes with complexities and uncertainties. While Sino-Africa transnational public–private partnerships (TPPP) are becoming an increasingly popular route for public infrastructure procurement, their specific project risks and dynamics are not yet fully understood due to the typical assessment of risk autonomously. This paper identifies pertinent project risks in Sino-Africa TPPPs and applies system thinking in evaluating their behaviour and dynamics. An extensive review of literature and expert opinion employing semi-structured interviews was adopted in the identification and assessment of risk factors. Additionally, the study applied causal loop and interpretive structural modelling as an integrated approach in the assessment of risk behaviour from a systems perspective. Results indicate that risk factors associated with Sino-Africa TPPPs are interactive and portray curious systemic behaviour. Risk factors like force majeure and others associated with the governance structure and stability of the host African country are most influential, and their occurrence could inhibit project success. The study recommends that in conjunction with the conventional risk assessment by impact, systems thinking can be adopted to evaluate and comprehend the dynamics and interactions amongst the risk factors. This will improve risk assessment efficiency and fair allocation and treatment of risks as a conduit for project success and promote a win–win partnership for project actors.

Strategies to promote collaborative governance regime in Indian rural road maintenance

PurposeEffective maintenance of rural roads is an essential aspect of public infrastructure delivery. However, governments failed to upkeep the built infrastructure. Accordingly, this study addresses this pressing issue by identifying attributes, skills and resources for asset maintenance. To do this, collaborative governance, a recent plausible alternative in the public policy literature, is used.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review proffered 29 strategies for operationalising collaborative governance principles. A questionnaire survey with the public sector representatives comprising top-level, mid-level and lower-level engineers was used to test the applicability of these strategies in rural infrastructure maintenance of India. The rated responses concerning strategies were subjected to exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying structure for reducing the dimensions to make them practically operational.FindingsThe exploratory factor analysis showed that six dimensions play an essential role in initiating and promoting collaboration. This parsimonious framework suggests building a common collaborative framework, communicating vision and fostering communities, leadership, increasing the industry's capacity, transparency of power and responsibilities, and technical and financial resources. Thus, governments’ initiatives to build collaboration is most prominent in initiating and sustaining a successful collaboration.Practical implicationsThe practical strategies reinforced through this study can formalise self-initiated regimes or independently convened regimes to a federally directed regime well within the scope of the national programmes. Thus, findings primarily have considerable implications to emerging countries where reducing the unit costs to save the public exchequer from wastage and preventing assets from becoming dilapidate are essential.Originality/valuePublic sector practitioners often lack the essential skills and innovative thinking and thus offered new knowledge would transform the traditional practices in infrastructure maintenance. Theoretically, the present research advances the understanding of structures and processes for collaborative governance theory to non-contractual infrastructure asset management literature.

Is (in)access to infrastructure driven by physical delivery or weak governance? Power and knowledge asymmetries in Cape Town, South Africa

Despite widespread scholarly recognition that infrastructure delivery and consumption is as much a socio-political process as a technical-material product, global development agendas (e.g. United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals) continue to prioritise the universal provision of public infrastructure as a static transfer of physical goods/services without explicit recognition of their socio-political dimensions. This paper explores the everyday ways in which citizens negotiate public infrastructure delivery and access, situated in a global South context of extreme inequality and limited state capacity. Using a case study of two low-income settlements in Cape Town with differing infrastructure provision, we demonstrate how governance processes can undermine the physical delivery of infrastructure. While participatory governance remains a core policy mechanism to democratise service delivery, in practice the capacity of citizens to participate is affected by power and knowledge asymmetries that function both within and between communities and the state. These asymmetric power relations and knowledge flows contribute to clientelistic politics that not only limit citizen engagement in participatory governance, but actively undermine low-income urban dwellers’ access to services that have been physically delivered and targeted to meet their needs. Framed by a case study of energy interventions, we conclude that widening access to public infrastructure requires significant investment in effective governance processes for low-income urban dwellers.

Governance structures for public infrastructure projects: Public–private management regimes, contractual forms and innovation

The choice of appropriate governance structures for public infrastructure projects is a major challenge for governments. The extant literature provides ample theoretical support to analyse various public–private management regimes for public infrastructure service delivery, but there is little discussion on the innovation incentives of specific contractual forms and their welfare implications under different management regimes. Our research aims at providing answers to the following research questions: who should manage different tasks in public infrastructure delivery – public, private or public–private partnership (PPP)?; how should these tasks be managed to foster innovation and enhance welfare?. We explore these using a multi-period analytical model that analyses innovation incentives induced by six contractual forms under five management regimes. We derive conditions under which specific governance structures maximise welfare. Our analysis reveals that PPPs induce optimal innovation and maximise welfare if governed through revenue-sharing concessions for user-payment type services and fixed-price annuity type contracts for no-user-payment type services. The risk share of the private partner and the shadow cost of public funds strengthen the case for PPPs while transaction costs weaken it. These results generate novel insights for policymakers to design effective governance structures and set new research directions in public infrastructure governance.

Direct Labour as A Procurement Route for Infrastructure Delivery within Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana

Direct Labour procurement method has been identified as one of several procurement route alternatives used for the delivery of construction projects. This study assessed Direct Labour as a procurement route for the delivery of infrastructure within the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana. A qualitative research approach was employed using in-depth interviews conducted with ten (10) professionals who were purposively sampled from the Works Departments of the Kumasi, Accra and Tema Metropolitan Assemblies in Ghana. The qualitative data was then analysed using content analysis. Direct Labour has been revealed by this study as an effective procurement method which can be employed by the MMDAs in Ghana for the delivery of public infrastructure. The findings of the study also indicate that, the benefits of the Direct Labour procurement route include the elimination of profits to contractors and its idealness for the execution of emergency works. However, Direct Labour as a form of procurement is not used on new MMDA construction projects because the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) of Ghana as Amended in 2016, does not clearly stipulate its usage on new projects. Direct Labour procurement is used within the MMDAs mainly for maintenance works on public projects. The findings of the study would prove useful for policy re-evaluation, especially regarding the reformation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as Amended in 2016 to include Direct Labour as one of the procurement routes for the delivery of infrastructure. This would enable the MMDAs to adopt it not only for maintenance works, but also for the execution of new infrastructural projects in order to benefit from its numerous advantages.

La gestión de los valores públicos en asociaciones público-privadas concesionales.

Using the policy instrument of public-private partnerships (ppps), governments achieve their policy goals by delegating the responsibility for the delivery of public infrastructure and service provision to private consortia. ppps, as hybrid institutions, embody principal-agent challenges in the implementation of public policies given that private agents may have different goals than bureaucracies. Governments need to find ways of managing consortia so that they implement policy goals despite inherent information asymmetry and in the presence of different (conflictual) institutional logics: state versus market. Governments might not always succeed in overcoming these conflicts and their failure to achieve avowed policy goals may harm public values such as accountability, transparency, responsibility, responsiveness, and quality. In order to empirically determine to what extent governments succeed in safeguarding public values in ppps, a multiple case study involving seven dbfmo projects in Spain and the Netherlands has been employed. The analysis demonstrates that governments exercise control over the operations of the private consortia and, overall, can account for their results and are able to impose a state “logic”. However, this does not happen at the outset, and not all public values are preserved simultaneously.

International experience of public infrastructure delivery in support of housing growth

This paper compares planning and funding arrangements for public infrastructure delivery in support of new housing development in the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the US, and Hong Kong/Mainland China. It examines the roles and responsibilities of different levels of government, the extraction of financial contributions from the development process (mainly funded through increases in land value), and the level of involvement of private and public actors in infrastructure delivery and land value capture (LVC). Three linked questions provide a basis for comparison of the cases: first, what arrangements are in place, in terms of planning hierarchy and responsibility, for coordinating infrastructure delivery (and how do these relate to funding arrangements); second, how are local contributions extracted from the development process or through the acquisition and sale of land; and lastly, what inferences can be drawn regarding the relative power of public and private actors in this process and to what extent is public interest prioritized/served through prevailing approaches to value extraction. The paper contributes international experience to debates on optimizing planning approaches for infrastructure delivery while maximizing public benefit from land value.

Transaction Costs and Efficiency in Design-Build Contracting: Empirical Evidence from the Transportation Infrastructure Sector in Oregon

Design-build (DB) contracting as a type of public–private partnerships (PPPs) has been widely used as an alternative to the traditional contracting-out and the in-house provisions for the delivery of infrastructure in the United States. The research question this article seeks to answer is whether the efficiency motive helps explain the use of DB contracting compared to traditional contracting-out, the design-bid-build (DBB), in public infrastructure delivery. By using the transaction cost economics approach, I assessed whether DB contracting is selected to minimize transaction costs in certain infrastructure transactions that would later lead to more efficient results for those infrastructure transactions. By employing a two-stage empirical strategy (the nonparametric data envelopment analysis and the instrumental variable two-stage least squares regression approach), I examined 59 bridge and combination bridge-roadway projects in Oregon that were completed during 2005–2015 using both DB and DBB contracting. I found that when the transaction is complex, the assets in the transaction are specific, and the size of the transaction is large, the use of DB contracting significantly increases the efficiency score by 46 percentage points. The findings suggest that the transaction costs economizing motive underlies the choice of governance structure in public service deliveries.

Is the Public Private Partnership Model the Right Vehicle for Public Infrastructure Delivery in Developing Countries?

There has been an increase in the number of governments that adopted public-private partnership (PPP) as an infrastructure delivery model. However, there are still misgivings about the role PPPs play in developing countries’ economies. The objective of this study is to address the question of whether the PPP model really benefits the public. This study follows a qualitative approach based on international review of literature on PPP experiences around the world. The results of the study indicate that, the PPP model can be a good vehicle for delivering public infrastructure projects in developing countries. However, for PPPs to meet the expectations of the public sector and the citizens there are certain aspects that need to be in place i.e. transparency, accountability, optimum risk allocation/sharing, and increased competition to name just a few. If a country implements its PPP programme properly, there are massive benefits compared to the public procurement approach that may accrue to consumers and the economy as a whole. Such benefits include reduced prices, which may also increase access to services. The study has elucidated valid from invalid arguments about PPPs and has established whether the PPP model is indeed the right vehicle for delivering infrastructure projects.

Ppp policy, depoliticisation, and anti-politics

This article disentangles the complex relationship between depoliticisation and anti-politics in public-private partnership (PPP) policies and practices. By identifying three social mechanisms that underlie dynamics of depoliticisation in PPPs, namely consultocracy, yield bias, and complex contracting, it contrib-utes to the growing interdisciplinary literature on depoliticisation. The article argues that as depoliticisation continues to evolve, it further increases the unbalance between depoliticisation and politicisation, which has negative implications for democratic governance. The depoliticised logic behind PPPs feeds broad sen-timents of political distrust and disappointment, because political decision makers tend to use PPPs as mir-acle solutions for the delivery of public infrastructure without bearing the long-term budgetary conse-quences of their own decisions. This constitutes an expectations gap: the difference between what is prom-ised or expected by politicians on the one hand, and what they can actually deliver on the other. It is here that the short-term rationales and incentives of political decision makers collide with the wider public inter-est in the longer term.

PPPs as Innovations: Insights from Diffusion Theory

Public-private partnership (PPP) represents the cooperation between the government and the private sector for the delivery of public infrastructure and/or public utilities/services, drawing on their relative strengths, expertise and capacity of both to establish complementary relationships between them. The public and private parties function as partners throughout project development and delivery and often in operation and maintenance. PPP can be viewed as an innovation in infrastructure development/delivery. In the Indian context, PPP has witnessed tremendous growth over the lastdecade. This study analyses the growth of PPP in India for the period 1990–2012 using the logistic model for diffusion of innovations. The results of the study present some interesting insights on PPP in Indian infrastructure development as an innovation, indicating that the logistic model is appropriate for explaining the growth of infrastructure investment in India. The model provides a projection of the total market potential for the total infrastructure investment, as well as for the PPP investment and the latter was found to be 36.94% of the former. Interestingly, the adoptionrate for PPP investment was higher than that for total investment, which indicates that PPP investment is spreading relatively faster than total investment. The study proposes that diffusion models can be used tomonitor the rate of adoption and market potential of different schemes and/or programmes, for different subcategories of infrastructure development. For new schemes, the Bass (1969, Management Science, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp.227) model may be more appropriate, as the diffusion of new schemes is determined by both early adoption/innovation and imitation, while for more established and on going programmes, the innovation rate is negligible so that the result is a pure imitation process, i.e. the logistic model. Another important aspect of diffusion modelling that would be useful for policy makers is to examine the factors affecting the adoption rate and the market potential.

A nested framework for transparency in Public Private Partnerships: Case studies in highway development projects in India

Public Private Partnership (PPP) offers an innovative framework of accountability in comparison to traditional public sector procurement model. Transparency is one of the four components of the framework. Whereas theoretically PPP calls for restricted transparency, policy makers have recently raised their voices for improved transparency of public infrastructure delivery process throughout the project cycle. But the question arises what transparency is and what does it do? This research offers a framework of transparency to understand the wider concept both in depth and breadth, drawing on the literature of decision-making in mega projects, PPP and understanding of transparency under various theoretical paradigms. Three highway projects from the eastern part of India are examined and conclusions are also based on case study findings, considering the extent they can be framed under various theoretical paradigms under review. Hood and Heald's (2006) framework on categories of transparency based on time and direction of disclosure of information is also used to suggest how altering time and direction of disclosure would have better served the purposes of transparency.

Transaction cost analysis of public infrastructure delivery

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic assessment of the magnitude of transaction costs of public infrastructure delivery, based on the three attributes of transaction costs, being the asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency of a transaction. Design/methodology/approach – Non-parametric tests were used to test the transaction cost differences between different procurement types. Findings – The authors find empirical support, based on a sample of 172 public infrastructure projects in Belgium, that construction firms make higher relation specific investments to their transaction partners under a public-private partnership (PPP) than a under a traditional public procurement (TPP). In addition, the authors found that PPP transactions are burdened by a greater uncertainty and a less mature market than TPP transactions. Research limitations/implications – Given the complexity of this research, the scope is limited to: a strict distinction between two procurement types, one geographical area, a limited time scope and a focus on the private sector. Hence, the authors suggest that further research broadens the scope of either one of these aspects in order to get a better understanding of the total transaction cost burden of the public infrastructure market. Practical implications – This study offers policy makers form a better understanding of the transaction cost implications when evaluating different procurement types. Originality/value – This paper serves as one of the first systematic comparative analyses of the magnitude and determinants of transaction costs for the delivery of public infrastructure.

Opportunities and Challenges in Engaging Citizens in the Co-Production of Infrastructure-Based Public Services in Australia

Research and practice have observed a shift towards service-oriented approaches that depend on input from citizens as co-producers of services. Yet in the delivery of public infrastructure the focus is still on managing assets rather than services. Using a Policy Delphi approach, we found that although experts advocate service-centric approaches guidelines and policies lack a service-centric perspective. Findings revealed a range of impediments to effective stakeholder involvement. The paper contributes to co-production and new public governance literature and offers directions for public infrastructure decision-makers to support and reconnect disengaged government–citizen relations, and determine ways of understanding optimal service outcomes.