Government equity investment, effective communication and public private partnership (PPP) performance: evidence from China
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 12 November 2020
Issue publication date: 2 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Public private partnership (PPP) has gained increasing popularity around the globe. Whether the government needs to participate in the PPP special purpose vehicle (SPV) as an equity coinvestor is a critical issue in PPP development. This research aims to examine the influence of government equity investment on PPP performance by taking public-private communication as an intermediate variable.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was adopted as the main research method. PPP practitioners with extensive experiences from both the public and private sectors were targeted respondents. The survey results were subsequently analyzed using statistical data analysis method.
Findings
Based on the results from the questionnaire survey, this research indicates an inverted U-shaped relationship between the ratio of government equity and performance in PPP projects. In addition, communication plays a mediating role between government equity investment and PPP project performance.
Originality/value
This research explicates the relationship between the equity structure in a PPP SPV and the project performance. It provides important guidance and reference for PPP practitioners to structure the SPV and associated financial and commercial arrangements. It also offers valuable insights into the development of PPP policy, especially regarding the structuring of PPP models in China and elsewhere.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research is sponsored by the grants of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71734001; 51578438), the Humanity and Social Science Youth foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 18YJC630019; 17YJC760090), the National Students' Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training (No. 201910703066) and the key projects of scientific research plan of Department of Education of Shaanxi Province (No. 20JT038).Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation
Hu, Z., Li, Q., Liu, T., Wang, L. and Cheng, Z. (2021), "Government equity investment, effective communication and public private partnership (PPP) performance: evidence from China", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 28 No. 9, pp. 2811-2827. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2020-0138
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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