Analyzing Configurational Paths for Successful PPPs in Indian Urban Drinking Water Sector

Over the last three decades, public–private partnership projects have emerged as strong alternative service delivery mechanisms to conventional public sector initiatives. The results, however, have been a mix of failures and successes. The determinants of success and failure of such arrangements have generated much interest among stakeholders and the research community, but the combinations of factors that influence the success of public–private partnership projects are relatively less researched. This article investigates the relationships among the complex factors that influence the success of such arrangements, using urban drinking water projects in India as an example. Eighteen projects were selected for the study and 11 factors affecting the project outcome (causal conditions) were identified based on the literature review. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was conducted to understand which combinations of causal conditions potentially influence the outcome of a public–private partnership project. The analysis identified five causal solutions comprising seven to nine causal conditions each. Defining service standards in a manner that is amenable to measurement and public disclosure emerged as a necessary condition. Two causal solutions presented themselves with capacity of the public sector, and its consequent outputs, as a primary theme. Two other solutions have elements relating to appropriate project structure and baseline information as the key causal conditions. These causal solutions indicate the interrelationship between various factors that influence project performance and provide pointers for project proponents to focus on the causal conditions over which they have relatively better control, when configuring public–private partnership projects.