Evaluation model for assessing the suitability of public-private partnership projects

This paper presents an evaluation model useful for assessing the suitability of public-private partnership (PPP) projects by studying their attractive and negative factors. A survey of industrial practitioners in Hong Kong was conducted. Respondents were asked to rank the importance of 15 attractive and 13 negative factors for adopting PPP. From the rankings, relative weights of each factor were derived. The weights of these factors formed the basis for the evaluation model presented in this paper. The Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge was used to demonstrate how this evaluation model could be applied. From the list of attractive and negative factors the writers selected those that were foreseeable in this project. Calculating the total weights of each group of factors showed that negative factors outweighed attractive factors by 27%. The result indicated that PPP would not be a suitable method for delivering this project. The evaluation model presented in this paper can help both the public and private sectors to assess whether potential public projects are suited for PPP.