A new framework for evaluating public-private partnerships

Since the global financial crisis limited funds have been available for major infrastructure projects, many governments and other agencies have had great difficulty in promoting and financing infrastructure development using public private partnerships (PPPs). Therefore, it is essential that supporting agencies and financiers conduct effective pre-design and pre-construction analysis and evaluation of the proposed projects. Traditional approaches have tended to focus on the meeting budget and project duration targets, but these single dimension evaluations may not take account of the more complex legal, organizational, and financial interfaces created by multiple stakeholder interactions. More effective approaches, mechanisms, and frameworks are essential in this early stage volatile environment and this paper attempts to address some of the vital issues involved in the inception stages of major infrastructure projects using PPPs. Stakeholders must have an effective performance measurement framework to evaluate PPPs before they make crucial decisions on major infrastructure projects. Fundamental to creating a new approach is to gain an understanding what evaluation methods are used at present by reviewing the important literature on PPPs. The paper concentrates on PPP characteristics and performance measurement. Analysis of the literature indicates that a more feasible framework based on the performance prism can capture more of the distinct characteristics of PPPs and is a more suitable framework for conducting these early project evaluations, providing more efficient performance measurement. This paper can be provide essential guidance for assisting in the design and selection of the most effective performance measurement indicators for PPPs in infrastructure projects.