Factor Analysis of Public Clients’ Best-Value Objective in Public–Privately Partnered Infrastructure Projects

Abstract

Best value is the ultimate goal of the public client in infrastructure development through public–private partnerships (PPPs). A best-value approach necessitates a sound best-value source selection methodology, which encourages creativity and innovation from the private sector and allows the public sector to make a right tradeoff between cost and noncost criteria in tender evaluation. Through a factor analysis of the relative significance of the best-value contributing factors (BVCFs) based on a previous questionnaire survey of international PPP experts, this paper has determined the major common dimensions of the public clients’ best-value objective in infrastructure development and the key BVCFs that measure each of these dimensions. Statistical tests confirm the adequacy and quality of the survey, the soundness of the factor analysis and the internal consistency of the BVCFs, and they also indicate that the public, private, and academic sectors consider BVCFs rather similarly. The establishment of the best-value objective dimensions and the BVCFs that measure each of these dimensions would direct and concentrate the efforts of the private sector in crafting innovative project delivery models to offer the best value, the public sector in efficiently evaluating project proposals to award a defensible contract, and the consequently formed PPPs in continuously enhancing the best-value objective through long-term contractual arrangements.