Chapter
Nov 9, 2020
Construction Research Congress 2020

Analysis on the Obstacles of Implementing Small and Medium Public-Private Partnership for U.S. Infrastructure Development

Publication: Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts

ABSTRACT

Small and medium public-private partnership (P3) infrastructure projects get a noteworthy growth in the United States in recent years while the distribution of project size is generally stable. As the increase of small and medium P3 application, there is an emerging discussion on the use of P3 to deliver local projects which are frequently at small and medium size to meet local infrastructure needs. This paradoxical phenomenon is contrary to the classical perspective that projects under a certain size are not feasible for P3. Even though there are many rules of thumb for the minimum proper size of qualified P3 candidates, almost no elaborated justification for the thresholds of project size could be found. In contrast with the increasing implementation, small and medium P3s, especially those in developed countries, receive incongruous little attention in existing studies. By critically reviewing the literature, this paper synthesized and discussed the obstacles of implementing small and medium P3 in the United States. Transaction cost, financeability, legislative authorization, political commitment, and government capacity are major areas where the obstacles of small and medium P3 may appear. Corresponding to the summarized obstacles, the authors proposed five project features as the enablers which may contribute to the success of small and medium P3. This paper helps people better understand the obstacles of small and medium P3 in the United States and provides theoretical propositions for future empirical study.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.

REFERENCES

American Subcontractor Association (ASA), National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP), and the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA). (2018). “Public-Private Partnership Laws in the States, Including Surety Bond Requirements.” https://suretyone.com/pdf/public-private-partnership-laws-in-the-states-2018.pdf (Aug. 3, 2019)
Ashuri, B., and Mostaan, K. (2015). “State of Private Financing in Development of Highway Projects in the United States.” J. Manage. Eng., 2015, 31(6): 04015002
ASCE Committee on America’s Infrastructure (2016). “Failure to Act: The Impact of Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future.” https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ASCE-Failure-to-Act-2016-FINAL.pdf (May 23, 2019)
Bay Area Council Economic Institute (2018). “Public-Private Partnerships in California: How Governments Can Innovate, Attract Investment, and Improve Infrastructure Performance.” http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/files/pdf/P3inCaliforniaWeb.pdf (Aug. 2, 2019)
Blanc-Brude, F., Goldsmith, H. and Välilä, T. (2006). “Ex ante construction costs in the European road sector: a comparison of public-private partnerships and traditional public procurement.” EIB Economic and Finance Report No. 2006/1, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1104070 (Apr. 15, 2019)
Bond, D. L., Platz, D. and Magnusson, M. (2012). “Financing small-scale infrastructure investments in developing countries.” Working Papers 114, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
Boyer, E. J., and Van Slyke, D. M. (2019). “Citizen Attitudes towards Public–Private Partnerships.” Am. Rev. Public. Adm., 49(3): 259–274.
Buckberg, E., Mudge, R., and Sheffield, H. (2018). “Rising Tide of Next Generation U.S. P3s- and How to Sustain It.” The Brattle Group, Cambridge, MA.
Cai, J., Li, S., and Cai, H. (2019). “Empirical Analysis of Capital Structure Determinants in Infrastructure Projects under Public–Private Partnerships.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2019, 145(5): 04019032.
Caltrans (2009). “Toll Road Fact Sheet: AB 680 PRIVATE TOLL ROAD PROGRAM.” http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/toll/status.htm (Apr. 18, 2019)
CANCEA (Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis) (2016). “The economic impact of Canadian P3 projects: Why building infrastructure on time matters.” Toronto, Canada.
Chen, C., Hubbard, M., and Liao, C. S. (2013). “When public-private partnerships fail: Analysing citizen engagement in public–private partnerships–cases from Taiwan and China.” Public Manage. Rev., 15: 839-857.
Conference Board of Canada (2013). “Canada as a Global Leader: Delivering Value through Public Private Partnerships at Home and Abroad.” Ottawa.
Daito, N. (2014). “Data on Public-Private Partnership Projects.” http://p3policy.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/P3-data-research-note-2014-06-03_finaldraft.pdf (Aug. 3, 2019)
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (DIRD) (2015). “National Public Private Partnership Policy Framework.” Canberra.
De Schepper, S., Haezendonck, E., and Dooms, M. (2014). “Understanding pre-contractual transaction costs for Public–Private Partnership infrastructure projects.” Int. J. Proj. Manage. 33 (2015) 932–946.
Dudkin, G. and Välilä, T. (2006), “Transaction costs in public-private partnerships: a first look at the evidence.” Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, 1(2): 307-330.
EBST (Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority) (2005). “OPP-Markedet I Danmark 2005-2010 [OPP market in Denmark 2005-2010].” Copenhagen, Denmark. (in Danish)
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (2018). “State P3 Legislation.” https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/p3/legislation/ (Jul. 7, 2019)
Geddes, R. R. and Reeves, E. (2017). “The favourability of U.S. PPP enabling legislation and private investment in transportation infrastructure.” Util. Pol., 48: 157-165.
Geddes, R. R. and Wagner, B. L. (2013). “Why do U.S. states adopt public–private partnership enabling legislation?” J. Urban Econ., 78: 30-41.
Hodge, G. A., and Greve, C. (2013). “Introduction: Public-private partnership in turbulent times.” Rethinking public-private partnerships: Strategies for turbulent times, 1-32. Routledge, Abingdon, UK.
HM Treasury (2003). “PFI: meeting the investment challenge.” HM Treasury, London.
Koch, C. and Jensen, J. O. (2009). “Small Public Private Partnerships: The Answer To Local Public And Private Needs, Yet An Ugly Duckling?” CIB Joint International Symposium 2009, CIB, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Lam, W. R., and Wang, J. (2018). “China’s Local Government Bond Market.” IMF Working Paper 219, International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Affairs Department.
Liu, G. and Sun, R. (2016). “Economic Openness and Subnational Borrowing.” Public Budgeting & Finance, 36: 45-69.
Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands (2014). “Voortgangsrapportage DBFM(O) 2014 [2014 Progress Report on DBFM(O)].” https://www.pianoo.nl/sites/default/files/documents/documents/voortgangsrapportagedfbmo-2014.pdf (Aug. 4, 2019) (in Dutch)
Mostaan, K., and Ashuri, B. (2017). “Challenges and Enablers for Private Sector Involvement in Delivery of Highway Public–Private Partnerships in the United States.” J. Manage. Eng., 2017, 33(3): 04016047.
MSRB (Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board) (2019). “MUNI FACTS” http://www.msrb.org/msrb1/pdfs/MSRB-Muni-Facts.pdf (Apr. 15, 2019).
National Academies (2017). “Public Transportation Guidebook for Small- and Medium-Sized Public-Private Partnerships (P3s).” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington DC.
NAIC (National Association Insurance Commissioners) (2017). “Municipal Bond Exposure YE 2016 Update - Build America-SP.” https://www.naic.org/capital_markets_archive/170913.htm (Apr. 15, 2019).
NLC (National League of Cities) (2016). “Paying for Local Infrastructure in a New Era of Federalism: a State-By-State Analysis.” https://www.nlc.org/sites/default/files/2016-12/NLC_2016_Infrastructure_Report.pdf (May 23, 2019)
Ramsey, D., and El Asmar, M. (2016) “Analysis of Funding Sources for Design-Build-Finance (DBF) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Projects in the U.S. Transportation Sector: An Ongoing National Study.” Proc., Constr. Res. Cong. 2016, ASCE, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Soliño, A. S., and de Santos, P. G. (2010). “Transaction Costs in Transport Public–Private Partnerships: Comparing Procurement Procedures.” Transport Rev., 30(3), 389-406,
Soliño, A. S., and de Santos, P. G. (2016). “Influence of the Tendering Mechanism in the Performance of Public-Private Partnerships: A Transaction Cost Approach.” Public Perform. Manage., 40(1), 97-118,
U.S. DOT (U.S. Department of Transportation) (2016). “DOT Fact Sheets Highlight Grim State of U.S. Roads and Bridges.” https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/dot-fact-sheets-highlight-grim-state-us-roads-and-bridges (May 23, 2019)
U.S. DOT (U.S. Department of Transportation) (2018). “Public Road Length 2017 Miles by Ownership.” https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2017/hm10.cfm (May 23, 2019)
Williamson, O. E. (1975). Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. The Free Press, New York.
Williamson, O. E. (1985). The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. The Free Press, New York.
World Bank (2014). “A Preliminary Review of Trends in Small-Scale Public-Private Partnership Projects.” Washington, DC.
Yescombe, E. R. (2013). Principles of Project Finance 2nd Edition. Academic Press, Cambridge, MA.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Construction Research Congress 2020
Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts
Pages: 1221 - 1229
Editors: David Grau, Ph.D., Arizona State University, Pingbo Tang, Ph.D., Arizona State University, and Mounir El Asmar, Ph.D., Arizona State University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8288-9

History

Published online: Nov 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 9, 2020

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Yunping Liang [email protected]
Economics of the Sustainable Built Environment (ESBE) Lab, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. E-mail: [email protected]
Baabak Ashuri, M.ASCE [email protected]
Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), Economics of Sustainable Built Environment (ESBE) Lab, School of Building Construction and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. E-mail: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Paper
$35.00
Add to cart
Buy E-book
$294.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Paper
$35.00
Add to cart
Buy E-book
$294.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share