Social Network Analysis of Road PPP Equity Markets in Canada, Chile, and the United States

Abstract

For several decades, governments around the world have increasingly used public–private partnerships (PPPs) to improve the road infrastructure sectors in their jurisdictions. In response, research has examined the managerial and organizational methods associated with PPP procurement processes. Although the PPP body of knowledge continues to grow, the functioning of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) formed to pursue PPP projects, particularly the relationships among SPV equity investors, remains largely unexplored. Building on concepts from the PPP and social network analysis (SNA) domains, the main goal of this study is to examine the patterns of behavior associated with SPV equity investors participating in the PPP tendering processes. The methodology uses data from public and proprietary databases to examine the networks of relationships among PPP equity providers within the road infrastructure sectors in Canada, Chile, and the United States over the last 26 years. The main outcome of this analysis is a characterization of the PPP equity markets in these three countries. Results show that PPP investors seemingly exhibit collaboration-based connections in the Canadian network, competition-based relationships in the Chilean market, and a combination of competition and collaboration features in the US network. Conclusions suggest that, despite their differences, the PPP networks studied are complex and self-organizing structures that exhibit preferential attachment mechanisms between central and peripheral players. Future studies are suggested to add insight on the ways that PPP markets and SPVs mutually influence one another and affect project performance.