Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been embraced by governments worldwide for better project governance and improved value for money by sharing risks and rewards with the private sector and exploiting private capital, technologies and management skills. However, PPPs in the water sector has shown vulnerability due to 1) water sector complexity, 2) poor decision making and unsatisfactory working relationships between the public and private sector, and 3) other social, political, and economic circumstances. Among these projects, some were abandoned by sponsors and some bailed out by the host governments. Despite a large number of failed attempts, research on the root causes to the failure of water PPP projects is scarce. Such a research is all the more important in view of the fact t...[ Read more ]

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been embraced by governments worldwide for better project governance and improved value for money by sharing risks and rewards with the private sector and exploiting private capital, technologies and management skills. However, PPPs in the water sector has shown vulnerability due to 1) water sector complexity, 2) poor decision making and unsatisfactory working relationships between the public and private sector, and 3) other social, political, and economic circumstances. Among these projects, some were abandoned by sponsors and some bailed out by the host governments. Despite a large number of failed attempts, research on the root causes to the failure of water PPP projects is scarce. Such a research is all the more important in view of the fact that many failed water PPP projects suffered from disastrous consequences attracted substantial controversy, criticism, and conflict. This research is motivated by such water PPP failures.

This research has conducted a rigorous investigation of the fundamental issues in international water PPP project failures. Firstly, an extensive literature review was conducted to comprehend water PPP projects, categorize their failure types, and devise the overall research methodology. Secondly, 35 international water PPP failure cases were studied using event sequence mapping to identify 60 failure drivers and their causal interrelationships. The causal relations of failure drivers are presented using path diagrams and termed as ‘failure mechanisms’. Failure mechanisms are then evaluated, discussed, and consolidated to initially generalize three individual failure mechanism models in perspective of 1) public sector, 2) private sector, and 3) sociopolitical and external aspects, that indicate the generic failure paths to different types of failure. Thirdly, a questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the relative severity of the failure drivers and to measure the strengths of the causal links in the initial failure mechanism models through path analysis. Finally, the initial failure mechanism models were modified and refined based on the statistics of the severity of individual failure drivers and causal strengths. Outputs of this study would facilitate stakeholders in monitoring the failure drivers in different PPP stages and developing reactive as well as preventive measures to effectively remove or mitigate their impacts toward the successful development of water PPP projects.