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The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that affect the performance of projects being implemented on the public-private partnership (PPP) framework, with specific reference to urban drinking water sector in India.

A listing of factors that have a bearing on project performance have been developed based on a review of the literature. Through a survey, seven factors that are relevant to the Indian context were determined. Interviews were then conducted across a cross-section of government agencies, financial institutions, development agencies, private sector entities and consultants to understand the relative importance of these attributes. The analytical hierarchy process was used to develop relative weights of these factors.

Ranking and relative weights of the factors in descending order are stakeholder consent and support for water PPP projects (22.1 percent), appropriate project structure (17.4 percent), availability of realistic baseline information (16.2 percent), reasonable water tariffs (13.9 percent), public sector capacity (13.0 percent), well-developed market (9.5 percent) and water sector regulator (7.9 percent). Differences in perceptions amongst various stakeholder groups were also found.

Water sector has not matured, and with the advent of newer formats of implementation models, there could be significant changes in the sector. As the number of projects available for study is limited, this exercise can be undertaken periodically and updated in relation to experiences in other infrastructure sectors.

This analysis provides inputs to policymakers and project proponents for structuring more sustainable urban drinking water PPP projects.

Indian infrastructure PPP market is attracting increased attention from researchers, though not much emphasis is being given to urban drinking water sector. This paper aims to contribute toward filling this research gap.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) offer governments an opportunity to access private capital and skills to build or upgrade, operate and manage public water infrastructure services hitherto provided and run by the public sector. Access to private finance speeds up the provision of public water services in developing countries, where many governments face budgetary constraints. However, the water sector attracts the least investment flows in developing countries, well below other infrastructure sectors. This paper aims to present the results of an investigation of critical success factors (CSFs) required for attracting the private sector in water supply projects.

A structured questionnaire survey of international PPP expert opinions was conducted.

Analysis results show that the CSFs for attracting the private sector to water PPPs include political commitment from elected leaders toward PPPs for water supply; existence of a dedicated PPP unit; strong and competent public water authority; adequate fiscal capacity of a national/subnational authority; public acceptance and support of involvement of the private sector in water services; a well-designed PPP contract; existence of enabling policy and legal frameworks to support water PPPs; and profitability of water supply project(s) to attract investors and lenders. Agreement analysis also indicates a strong to very strong agreement on the significance and rankings of the CSFs.

The research findings provide an insight into a number of important issues to enable greater private participation in water supply projects, most of which aim at reminding governments of some key areas that need reform and enabling greater commitment among them to undertake such reforms. Given the limited empirical research on CSFs for attracting private participation, this research makes a contribution to the body of knowledge about private involvement in the water sector of developing countries.

The public‐private partnership (PPP) procurement approach enables the development and management of public infrastructure and services through leveraging private capital, management expertise, and creative commercial skills. This approach, pursued by the Ghanaian Government in the development and management of water supply services, contains a plethora of risks resulting from the complexity and dynamic interactions between municipal and central governments (pursuing monetary and political goals), public movements, private water operators, and international donors pursuing their own objectives. The paper seeks to increase awareness of the risks that can erode or reduce potential benefits of PPPs in the water supply sector.

A research approach integrating a literature survey and case study is adopted. A rigorous literature review of PPP risks is first undertaken. Based on six case studies carried out in the Ghanaian water supply sector, this paper identifies and categorises the risks specific to water supply PPP contracts in Ghana.

A total of 40 risk factors are identified, classified into eight categories based on their sources and their content presented in detail. Common risks which are worth practitioners' attention include weak regulatory and monitoring regime; financing; absence of risk allocation mechanisms; inexperience in PPPs; public opposition; delayed and non‐payment of bills, etc.

A comprehensive list of risks associated with water supply projects in Ghana has been identified. This list will aid practitioners, municipal and central government authorities, and the domestic and the (potential) international private sector audience in managing risks involved in such projects.

The past few years have seen some private sector involvement in urban and small-town water provision in Ghana, as the government strives to improve access to water supply services for its citizens in line with millennium development goals. Since 1995, both central and local governments have entered into various forms of public-private partnerships (PPPs) contracts. The paper aims to examine challenges and investment needs of Ghanaian water supply sector that necessitated private sector involvement; trends, and factors that constrain the development and implementation of projects with private sector involvement in the sector.

A research approach integrating multi-stage critical review of relevant related literature and case studies is adopted in this paper. The study is further informed by the authors' experience in the sector and knowledge of PPPs. Analysis of data from different sources, using both approaches, provides both historical and contemporary approach to water management practice in Ghana.

The paper reveals that the Ghanaian water supply sector mirrors the classic challenges of public sector utilities in developing countries. Under-investment by government is the major cause of the ill-performance of the sector, necessitating private sector involvement. Management contract has emerged as a popular form of water supply PPP in Ghana. Further, optimal risk allocation has not been widely adopted in these contracts, and not yet been given much attention by practitioners and researchers in the literature of water management in Ghana.

The paper provides useful insights into the constraints of the water supply sector, development and implementation challenges of PPPs in the sector, and prompts a need for more research on risk allocation in water supply PPP contracts.

The purpose of this paper is to explain three phases of modernisation change in the Sydney water sector from the early 1980s to 2007 and comments on how those phases of change are likely to be impacting the nascent development of water management processes in Sydney‐based water consuming organisations.

A framework of modernisation reform in the Sydney water sector has been determined through literature review.

This paper demonstrates that only moderate modernisation reform occurred in the Sydney water sector in the period from the early 1980s to 2007 tempered by water scarcity and a thrust to sustainability. As a result of these reforms, it is argued that water management processes in water consuming organisations are likely to have accelerated into the early 2000s.

This paper calls for empirical research to understand why organisations in the Sydney region have recently developed water management practices.

This paper contributes to an understanding of the impact of modernisation reform in the Sydney water sector from the early 1980s to 2007 and provides insight into the factors driving water management practices in water consuming organisations.

This paper provides public sector and environmental management researchers with an examination of modernisation reform in the Sydney water sector and relates this to the development of water management objectives in water consuming organisations.

Top-down pressure from donors, public sector inefficiencies and fund deficits have steered the introduction of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, PPP activities in the water sector have been quite insignificant compared to other infrastructure sectors in this region. In addition, a number of water PPPs have encountered great difficulties and subsequent failures. This study aims at unveiling the underlying reasons behind failures.

This study has classified the failure types of water PPPs and reviewed the development of water PPPs in sub-Saharan Africa to identify failed ones. Eight failed case studies are completed through the rigorous approach of event sequence mapping.

Nine root causes of water PPP failure are identified through a thorough examination of these failed water PPP cases and the interrelationships between these failure causes are established. The failure causes are further generalized through literature focusing on water PPP failures in developing countries and problematic issues that hinder the implementation of successful water PPPs across different Sub-Saharan African countries. Recommendations are provided for future improvements in carrying out water PPPs in Sub-Saharan Africa by learning past lessons and drawing experiences.

This is the first case study on water PPP failures in Sub-Saharan Africa from a construction management perspective. This study will help governments and the private sector in developing stronger future water PPPs.

In public-private partnership (PPP) contracts of water utilities, of particular concern is lack of market competition. This paper focuses on the size of contracts. If governments design a large-scale transaction, economies of scale in service operation can be expected, but competition in auctions may be compromised. For small contracts many firms will apply, but at the cost of scale diseconomies in operation. The estimated cost function of PPP water utilities indicates that economies of scale exist but diminish quickly as production increases. There is no rationale for more than 300 million cubic meters of water service concessions under a single package, taking a risk of little competition. Conversely, less than 50 million cubic meters of concessions are too small; the bundling approach is required.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic impacts of intra- and inter-regional water reallocation on sectoral transformation and economic growth.

A multi-sector, Ramsey-type growth model is fit to Chinese data and used to perform policy experiments.

An intra-regional water reallocation increases per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by about 1.5 percent per year over the period 2000-2060. The aggregate potential welfare gain due to this reallocation is 1002.51 billion RMB. Transferring water from southern to northern China via the South-North Water Transfer Project, on average, has a negligible impact on per capita GDP over the period 2000-2060, but aggregate welfare increases by 557.23 billion RMB. Combining intra-regional and inter-regional water reallocations, on average, increases per capita GDP by 0.38 percent per year over the period and the aggregate welfare gain from this combination is 1148.06 billion RMB. Each policy scenario has implications for long-run regional production patterns: In an intra-regional reallocation scenario, Southern China produces almost 70 percent of aggregate GDP, in the inter-regional transfer it produces 58 percent of aggregate GDP, while in a combined intra/inter-regional reallocation it produces 55 percent of aggregate GDP.

This analysis can serve as a template for developing a useful planning tool that one can fit to national or regional data and use to examine a variety of policy relevant questions.

Service quality and customer satisfaction influence the financial performance of service organizations. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the path relationship of service quality to customer satisfaction to financial sustainability in the water service sector, which is vital to the sustainable future of mankind. Further, these three interrelated constructs and their dimensions are clearly articulated.

SERVQUAL questionnaire responses were collected from 635 household families, and the financial sustainability indicators of 56 water providers were gathered as well. Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis were conducted to measure the internal consistency and convergent validity. Path analysis was utilized to evaluate the causal diagram by examining the relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction and financial sustainability using the AMOS software package.

The results showed that the five dimensions of service quality explain 58% of the customer satisfaction variation. The responsiveness, empathy, assurance and reliability have significant impact on the customer satisfaction where p < 0.05, while the tangible dimension has an insignificant effect. The results also revealed that customer satisfaction has a significant impact on the financial sustainability indicators of the water providers, where p = 0.000 for the debt collection ratio indicator, and p = 0.003 for the financial efficiency ratio indicator.

This research on financial sustainability is based on evidence about service quality and customer satisfaction in the Palestinian water sector. Future research on financial sustainability of the water sector may focus on the pricing mechanism and debt collection of water service.

The findings suggest that water providers should recognize the importance of service quality dimensions, which strengthen the customer satisfaction, which, in turn, is a significant driver for their financial sustainability. It is, therefore, sound to draw action-oriented managerial implications from these results.

The study adds to the literature of water service sector and is based on empirical evidence from primary data of household families and secondary data of water service providers from developing countries. This paper also contributes toward the strengthening of sustainability of the water service sector in Palestine – a worthy humanitarian cause. The study provides evidence useful for policy makers toward carving out policies aimed at strengthening the financial sustainability of the water service sector.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why the initially ambitious reform of the Dutch water sector turned into a moderate pace of change. The explanations are based on institutional theory.

This paper is a case study at the organizational field level of the Dutch water sector.

In order to enhance efficiency and transparency, Dutch Central Government initially attempted to enforce top‐down radical changes, including the formation of integrated water chain companies. However, after discussions and reactions of the interested parties, the central government authorised a bottom‐up approach, giving discretional powers to the individual water organizations. This transition to a bottom‐up approach can mainly be explained by the limited pressure exerted by the central government to change and the powerful position of the relevant organizations within the water sector, as well as their ability to establish strong coalitions to avoid mandatory radical changes.

The theoretical background is useful in analysing the change processes in other public sectors.

The Dutch way of consensus seeking might be threatened by its own inertia, and in the case of ineffectiveness, it could be replaced by a more top‐down and radical reform package.

Unravelling public sector reform into goals, means and approaches is useful, because although goals can remain the same during the change process, the means and approaches may be altered. Resistance to radical changes might stimulate convergent change options, such as reinforcement of the existing means of reform and may also decrease the embededdness and impermeability of the institutional fields.