When bigger is better: investment volume drivers in infrastructure public-private partnership projects

This research studies the factors that favour the establishment of high-investment infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) projects. We analyse 9121 PPPs, hosted in 107 developing countries, in the period 1997–2017. We find that PPP projects adopting contractual forms in which the private party takes more risks, awarded through competitive methods and benefitting from indirect government support programmes, are characterized by a larger investment volume. A more business-friendly economy and robust institutions configure the most conducive environment to establish larger investment PPPs. Furthermore, multilateral development banks’ support of the projects relates positively to their investment volume