Commercial investment in public-private partnerships: the impact of government characteristics

How to attract commercial investment to provide infrastructure and public service is an important issue for governments around the world. This paper investigated what government characteristics can attract commercial investment. Using China's PPP cases, this study shows that local government's fiscal stress, land resources, and wealth are important determinants in attracting commercial investment. The business environment of local government plays a moderating role between government characteristics (i.e., fiscal stress, land resources, and wealth) and commercial investment. By highlighting the determinants of commercial investment, this study offers important implications for the theory and practice of PPP management.

Automated summary

This study investigates the factors that attract commercial investment using China's PPP cases, and finds that the fiscal stress, land resources, and wealth of local governments are important determinants. It also shows that the business environment of local government moderates the relationship between government characteristics and commercial investment.