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The role of financial and information constraints in Public Private Partnerships
Full text linkResearch objectives and structure of the thesis
My research objectives can be summarized in two points:
At first, the thesis aims at improving the theoretical analysis of PPPs by integrating
further elements that take mainly into account the presence of uncertain externalities
among the phases of a project and the financial aspects of the contractual
agreements.
Secondly, I use empirical data to better understand what really affect the use of
PPPs and which goals governments aim to attain by choosing these investment
tools.
To reach these purposes, the thesis is structured in three chapters that are briefly
describe in the following paragraphs.
Chapter 1: Public Private Partnerships: Information Externality in Sequential
Investments
This paper studies the benefit coming from bundling two sequential activities in
a context of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Differently from previous literature,
I introduce a source of asymmetric information in the form of an externality
parameter linking the building stage with subsequent operational activity.
Within this framework, PPPs allow the government to extract private information
about the sign and magnitude of the externality parameter and to to minimize the
informational rents needed to incentivize the builder’s effort.
Our results suggest how PPPs can become those commitment devices that force governments
to define more coherent and informed plans that optimize the first period
welfare, improving investment to reduce unexpected ex post costs (cost overruns).
Chapter 2: Public Private Partnerships from budget constraints: Looking for
Debt Hiding?
In this paper we examine whether budget constrained public authorities are more
likely to use PPP (Public Private Partnership) than tradition procurement. Then,
we study the possible mechanisms beyond this choice.
The empirical test focuses on France and consists of a two stage approach. Firstly,
we look at the impact of budget constraints on the use of PFI (Project Finance
Initiative) and we find a positive relationship. Secondly, to better disentangle the
debt hiding effect we exploit the 2011 change in the possibility to underwrite the
debt of PPPs.
We find that that debt hiding is a relevant, but not sufficient element for explaining
the budget constrained governments’ aptitude towards PPPs.
Chapter 3: Public and Private Finance of PPPs
This theoretical paper studies the effect of public and private budget constraints
on the government’s choice between Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Traditional
Procurement (TP) mechanisms. Differently from the previous literature, I
introduce private limited liability and public budget constraints in a context characterized
by asymmetric information. In this framework, private agents are protected
in case of bad outcomes from the probability of failure. Furthermore, public transfers
are socially costly for the government.
Under PPPs, the private consortium, thanks to its long term commitment in the
project, owns an implicit incentive to invest during the building stage. As a conse-
quence, the agent can accept higher levels of risks and the the government can save
money in the form of incentive rents.
This paper provides a theoretical explanation for the empirical evidence which shows
how budget constrained governments are more apt to choose PPPs (Hammami et
al., 2006; Albalate et al., 2012; Russo and Zampino, 2010; Krumm and Mause, 2012;
Buso et al., 2013). The result is not derived from the presence of private financing,
but it comes from the introduction of asymmetric information in conditions of
financial stress.Obiettivi di ricerca e Struttura della tesi
I miei obiettivi di ricerca possono essere riassunti in due punti.
In un primo momento, la tesi mira a migliorare l’analisi teorica sui PPP, integrando
ulteriori elementi che tengano maggiormente in considerazione: la presenza di
esternalità informative tra le fasi di un progetto e gli aspetti finanziari degli accordi
contrattuali.
In secondo luogo, viene utilizzata l’analisi empirica per comprendere le determinanti
dei PPP e gli obiettivi perseguiti dai governi attraverso tali strumenti di
investimento.
Per raggiungere tali obiettivi, la tesi è strutturata in tre capitoli che verranno
descritti brevemente nei paragrafi seguenti.
Capitolo 1: Public Private Partnerships: Information Externality in Sequential
Investments
Questo lavoro di ricerca studia il beneficio proveniente dall’affidamento di due attività
sequenziali ad un singolo agente in un contesto di PPP. Diversamente dalla
letteratura precedente, l’analisi prevede la presenza di informazione asimmetrica
nella forma di un parametro di esternalità che collega la fase di costruzione con la
successiva attività operativa.
In tale contesto, i PPP permettono al governo di estrarre l’informazione privata
riguardante il parametro di esternalità e ridurre al minimo le rendite informative
necessarie per incentivare l’attività del costruttore.
I risultati suggeriscono come i PPP possano diventare quei dispositivi che costringono
i governi a definire piani più coerenti e consapevoli in grado di ottimizzare il
benessere della popolazione minimizzando i costi operativi non previsti (sforamento
dei costi).
Capitolo 2: Public Private Partnerships from budget constraints: Looking for
Debt Hiding?
In questo articolo viene esaminato il ruolo dei vincoli di bilancio pubblici nella
propensione a utilizzare i PPP rispetto agli appalti tradizionali. Successivamente,
vengono esaminati i possibili canali di trasmissione in grado di spiegare l’effetto
trovato.
L’analisi empirica è sviluppata nel contesto Francese e consiste in un approccio a
due fasi. In primo luogo, viene studiato l’impatto dei vincoli di bilancio sull’uso dei
contratti PFI (Project Finance Initiative) e i risultati evidenziano un effetto positivo.
In secondo luogo, per escludere la possibilità che tale impatto sia esclusivamente
spiegato da vantaggi contabili, viene utilizzato un cambiamento legislativo introdotto
nel 2011.
L’analisi evidenzia come, nonostante i vantaggi contabili siano rilevanti nello spiegare
l’effetto delle restrizioni di bilancio, essi non sono sufficienti a chiarire la propensione
a favore dei PPP di istituzioni con maggiori vincoli e difficoltà finanziarie.
Capitolo 3: Public and Private Finance of PPPs
Questo lavoro teorico analizza il ruolo svolto dalle restrizioni finanziarie pubbliche e
private nella scelta del governo tra PPP e appalti tradizionali. Diversamente dalla
letteratura precedente, vengono introdotti un vincolo privato di responsabilità limitata
e un vincolo di bilancio pubblico in un ambiente caratterizzato da informazione
asimmetrica. In tale contesto, gli agenti privati vengono protetti, in caso di risultati
non soddisfacenti, nei confronti della possibilità di fallimento. Inoltre, i trasferimenti
pubblici rappresentano un costo per la società (costo ombra dei fondi pubblici).
Nel PPP, il consorzio privato, grazie al suo coinvolgimento a lungo termine nel
progetto, è implicitamente incentivato ad investire durante la fase di costruzione.
Di conseguenza, l’agente può accettare livelli di rischio maggiori ed il governo è in
grado di risparmiare rendite informative.
Tale analisi teorica fornisce una possibile spiegazione all’evidenza empirica che mostra
come i governi con maggiori vincoli di bilancio siano più inclini a scegliere il
PPP. Il risultato non è dovuto alla presenza di finanziamenti privati, ma deriva
dall’introduzione dell’assimetria informativa in un contesto di restrizioni finanziarie
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