The trust-control nexus in public private partnership (PPP) contracts

This study examines the trust-control nexus in the context of public private partnership (PPP) contracts. It draws on the literature and the case of two UK school PPP contracts with varying degree of trust among the partners to illustrate the role of control in building competence trust and goodwill trust, and how trust in turn affects control. Prior to entering into the PPP contract, under a condition of high risk and low trust, reliance was placed on formal control to evaluate competence trust for the purpose of selecting a preferred bidder, whilst goodwill trust, which takes time to evolve, played no role in the selection process. During contract implementation, formal control formed the basis for demonstrating competence and nurturing goodwill trust. Trust subsequently determined the extent of reliance on formal control and informal control. In the case of School 1, high level of trust led to a reliance on informal control which enabled partners to focus resources on solving problems, whilst formal control operated in the background. In the case of School 2, low level of trust and perceived lack of transparency led to a demand for additional formal control. This study adds to the trust-control literature by shedding light on how trust relates to control, in the context of long-term PPP contracts which are difficult to specify in advance.     

PPPs: THE PASSAGE OF TIME PERMITS A SOBER REFLECTION

This paper argues that evaluations of public–private partnerships thus far point to contradictory results regarding their effectiveness and value-for-money. Despite continuing political popularity, greater care is needed to strengthen future evaluations and conduct such assessments away from the policy cheerleaders.     

Public-private partnerships and scale efficiency in Brazilian ports: Evidence from two-stage DEA analysis

This paper assesses the impacts of public-private partnerships on major Brazilian public ports. It is proposed that these kinds of arrangements with private terminal operators could help achieving higher levels of scale efficiency by enhancing coordination processes, providing more adequate information technologies, and higher connectivity with other transportation modes. Methodology relies on factor extraction of inputs/outputs as a first step to compute DEA efficiency estimates, followed by truncated bootstrapped regression analysis to test different contextual variables. Results indicate a strong positive impact of public-private partnerships on port scale efficiency, corroborating their impacts in relation to the most productive scale size.     

我国城市水务供给行业公私合作体制探索——基于重庆水务集团公私合作案例分析

公私合作(PPP public-private-partnership)模式是一种有效的公共产品或服务的供给方式。我国水务市场正逐步允许民间资本参与投资和经营,由于其自然垄断性以及我国传统的公有制要求,水务市场主要由国有企业参与项目融资建设。文章通过案例分析的研究方法,讨论政府和重庆水务集团公私合作关系、运作模式和特点,分析了该模式存在的困惑及障碍。针对问题提出了明晰政府定位、建设公私合作信息公开机制、合作竞争机制、构建合作结构等四方面的体制改革途径,从而实现新型的水务提供方式、让公众享受最好的供水服务和提升水务产品公私合作效率。     

基于项目可持续性表现评价模型的公私合作制模式

基础设施项目的建设与可持续发展有着密切的联系。可持续性发展的原则应用于基础设施建设中要求社会、经济和环境方面的统一和平衡。研究认为在基础设施建设中应用公私合作制(PPP)模式能推动可持续发展的实践,并以可持续发展的原理为基础,建立了评价基础设施建设中应用PPP模式的有效性模型。在这个评价模型中,采用专家打分法,考虑政府和私人在PPP模式中的参与程度,对基础设施项目可持续性评价指标体系中各个指标进行打分,并对得分进行不确定性分析,以期望值表示专家意见,从而得出项目的可持续性表现得分值,以此确定PPP模式项目的效益值。     

The impact of quantitative easing (QE) on the cost of debt in project finance investments

Recession-driven low inflation and high spreads have increased the cost of debt in public sector project finance investments, therefore reducing private sector profits and bankability. This paper investigates the impact of quantitative easing by central banks, showing that it can stimulate economic growth producing shared public and private benefits.     

多元化的城市交通基础设施融资

城市的发展需要一个良好的交通环境,城市交通基础设施建设需要投入大量资金,然而城市交通基础设施建设的资金缺乏、融资比较困难。本文就城市交通基础设施融资的问题进行了分析,并提出了城市交通基础设施融资的四种途径:PPPs、BOT项目融资、民间投资、金融市场。通过多渠道融资,完善城市交通基础设施建设,提高城市交通运输能力,促进城市经济健康发展。     

Public policy dilemma—gender equality mainstreaming in UK policy formulation

The UK government has committed itself to improving the representation of women in public service and has introduced a number of legislative measures, policies and development programmes to do this. In 2006, the government enacted a regulatory duty, placed on public sector organizations, to mainstream gender equality in policy and service delivery. This article explores the extent to which this duty could promote gender equality and makes some recommendations for improving the representation of women.     

Winners and losers in tolled motorway renegotiations: an empirical evaluation of the Spanish pioneers

This paper evaluates the welfare impact of a tolled motorway contract renegotiation in Spain. The results show that, after renegotiation, both taxpayers and the private concessionaire were better off. However, road users lost out. An agreement leaving road users unaffected, while securing gains for taxpayers and the concessionaire, would have been possible by negotiating a larger reduction in tolls linked to the extension of the contract duration.