Factors attracting private sector investments in public–private partnerships in developing countries: A survey of international experts
Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction
ISSN: 1366-4387
Article publication date: 3 April 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The increasing demand for public infrastructure has caused a rise in the global adoption of the public–private partnership (PPP) concept. However, over the past years, most of the developing countries have failed to attract more private investments as realised in the developed countries. This paper aims to investigate the critical factors that attract private investments in the PPP markets of developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with targeted international PPP experts from the academic and industrial sectors. The inter-rater agreement analysis, mean score ranking and Mann–Whitney U test were used to analyse the survey responses.
Findings
Results indicate that the three most critical factors are political support and acceptability for PPPs, government positive attitude towards private sector investments and political stability. On the other hand, factors including government guarantees, competent PPP unit and tax rebate on imported equipment are of low importance. The Mann–Whitney U test reveals that experts from the academic and industrial sectors view the importance of three factors differently: adequate public sector experience in PPP, government providing guarantees and government providing tax rebate on imported equipment.
Originality/value
The research outputs contribute to the existing but limited knowledge on PPP practices in developing countries by providing empirical evidence and cross-cultural perceptions on the conditions that are critical to the expansion of PPP markets in developing countries. It is therefore expected that governments and policymakers seeking to adopt the PPP concept would take into consideration the results and implications to enhance PPP growth.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a PhD research project entitled “A best practice framework for PPP implementation for infrastructure development in Ghana” from which other papers have been produced with different objective/scope but sharing the same background and methodology. The research project described is fully supported by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to all PPP practitioners and researchers who participated in this research study.
Citation
Osei-Kyei, R. and Chan, A.P.C. (2017), "Factors attracting private sector investments in public–private partnerships in developing countries: A survey of international experts", Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 92-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMPC-06-2016-0026
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited