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Privatization is a complex issue in many developing countries; therefore, it is vital to examine the obstacles that prevent its proper implementation. The goal of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers to private sector investment in the Water and Sewage Industry (WSI) and to suggest effective ways to attract the private investors to this sector.

The obstacles to private sector investment in the WSI were identified by conducting a desktop literature review and interviewing an expert panel, using the fuzzy Delphi technique. The most important barriers were identified and categorized. A structured survey was then developed and distributed to private sector investment experts. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was applied to further examine the responses and to rank the identified barriers.

The results showed that the greatest barrier to privatization is the weakness of insurance companies in controlling investment risks, and the second greatest barrier is the weakness of the country's capitalist culture. A review of recent success stories revealed that these barriers can be overcome with transparent price policies and increased interaction between the public and private sectors, which motivate private investors to invest in the WSI.

The elicitation of this study can be useful to both private and public sectors for the development of infrastructure projects, particularly for the WSI.

The government sometimes lacks sufficient financial, management and technical capabilities to deliver construction projects. As a result, it has recognized the need to introduce private sector capital and expertise to complete unfinished construction projects. This outsourcing paradigm is known as a public-private partnership, a form of privatization. This study aims to identify the barriers associated with the transfer of unfinished construction projects to the private sector in Iran and grouped them into areas that were ranked to shed light on where the risk lies.

After a thorough and comprehensive literature review, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 67 experts in the public and private sectors in Iran. The survey included 37 barriers grouped into seven areas and measured on a five-point Likert scale. Face validity, content validity and structural validity of the collected data were confirmed. The reliability of the questionnaire was also tested and validated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.

The survey findings indicated that private company laws, national constitution, government policies, lack of sufficient regulations, one-sided regulations and lack of balance, the regulations of other organizations and taxation laws were perceived as the major barriers to the transfer of unfinished public sector construction projects to the private sector in Iran. The ranking of the seven areas produced the following top three ranked barriers areas: taxation laws, government policies and one-sided regulations and lack of balance of importance.

The elicitation of this study can be useful to both private and public sectors for the development of infrastructure construction projects.

Completion of abandoned public facility projects is one of the major concerns of governments struggling with budget issues. Various research studies have shown that this can only be solved with the help of the private sector. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the capacity of the private sector to complete abandoned public facility projects through the study of the Water and Wastewater Company in Iran.

The Delphi survey questionnaires, which were distributed to and responded by a panel of experts – i.e. three groups of employers of the Iranian Water and Wastewater Company, consulting agents and private sector stakeholders engaging with Water and Wastewater Company projects – identified 50 critical factors allowing the private sector to carry out abandoned facility projects. These have been categorized into four components: financial capacities, management competency, knowledge and expertise and resources and facilities. A descriptive survey method was used to determine and prioritize these factors.

The survey findings indicate that knowledge and expertise are the main important clusters of factors influencing the completion of abandoned public facility projects. The value of these results is essential in providing the sound basis for mutual trust between the private sector and the public sector for greater participation, thereby helping to complete abandoned public facility projects.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study attempting to investigate the capacity of the private sector to complete abandoned public facility projects through an empirical analysis of factors influencing their completion.