Relating Institutions and Governance Strategies to Project Outcomes: Study on Public–Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Projects in India

Abstract

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure are long-term agreements subject to uncertainties. A variety of governance strategies must therefore be enacted over the PPP lifecycle to ensure that they deliver their intended benefits. This study used a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs-QCA) approach combined with Choquet–fuzzy integrals on data from 12 PPP projects from India to identify combinations of governance strategies that, when enacted in specific institutional environments in association with specific project characteristics, influenced project outcomes. It was found that project outcomes are multidimensional and that no single combination of institutions, project characteristics, and governance strategies guarantees success across all outcome dimensions. The analysis showed that the PPPs studied in the Indian context were successful even with weaknesses in the institutional environment. However, strong institutional environments did not guarantee PPP success—these projects needed to be augmented by governance strategies such as coordination mechanisms, rigorous project shaping, and flexibility in contracts. It is shown that flexible project arrangements enabled these PPPs to successfully navigate uncertainties, but only when preceded by a robust project shaping phase. Public sector shareholding hindered the adaptability of PPPs, and the presence of only normative supports for a PPP resulted in project failure postaward.