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Evaluation of the promotion of through-life management in public private partnerships for infrastructure.

Koskela, Lauri; Rooke, John; Siriwardena, Mohan

Authors

Lauri Koskela

John Rooke

Mohan Siriwardena



Abstract

One justification of public private partnerships (PPP) is the alleged benefit they offer in terms of through-life management (TLM). Aiming at an evaluation of this claim, the dominant reasoning connecting PPPs and TLM is first defined: In creating a single point of responsibility and a long temporal involvement, the PPP model provides an effective incentive to implement TLM. This reasoning is first evaluated through prior large scale studies and through two case studies undertaken by the authors. No substantial evidence of TLM benefits is found. To identify the causes for this gap between intention and achievement, a critical review of the PPP literature supported by insights from management and organization theory is undertaken. Four problems in the reasoning are found to explain the gap: fragmentation is factually prevailing; not all parties in PPPs intend to have a long term commitment to the project; there may be competing incentives for some parties; and the effort to achieve the change and learning necessary for TLM may be missing. It is concluded that for the TLM benefits to be achieved, the PPP model has to be redesigned to secure incentivisation towards TLM and to incorporate TLM mechanisms at the level of the production system.

Citation

KOSKELA, L., ROOKE, J. and SIRIWARDENA, M. 2016. Evaluation of the promotion of through-life management in public private partnerships for infrastructure. Sustainability [online], 8(6), article number 552. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060552.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 23, 2016
Online Publication Date Jun 16, 2016
Publication Date Jun 16, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 9, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Sustainability
Electronic ISSN 2071-1050
Publisher MDPI
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 6
Article Number 552
DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060552
Keywords Through life management; Public private partnerships; Private finance initiative; Infrastructure procurement
Public URL http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2164

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