Abstract
This issue of Public Works Management & Policy (PWMP) continues the theme from January 2017 on the delivery and performance of infrastructure—a topic of growing interest as a new Administration comes to power in the United States. The first article, “Infrastructure Public–Private Partnerships in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar: Meanings, Rationales, Projects, and the Path Forward” by Mhamed Biygautane, explores the experiences of these three Gulf states with infrastructure public–private partnerships (PPPs) and offers new insights into the development of the PPP phenomenon outside of the Western context. It analyzes policy frameworks and the rationales for their implementation, and presents a critical examination of PPP projects’ development to date. It concludes by identifying future directions in the use of infrastructure PPPs to deliver a broader spectrum of mega-infrastructure projects in the region, particularly in light of declining oil prices.
Most research on PPPs in infrastructure development has focused on the preconstruction phases. “Implementing Public–Private Partnerships: How Management Responses to Events Produce (Un)Satisfactory Outcomes” by Verweij, Teisman, and Gerrits looks instead at the implementation phase. Despite the best agreements, projects can fail during implementation because of unforeseen events and ineffective responses to them. The case studies discussed found that externally oriented responses or a cooperative stance between the public and private partners can produce satisfactory outcomes in responding to these events but, in practice, management responses are often internally oriented and non-cooperative, resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes. The article concludes with implications for management and policy of infrastructure PPPs which should have broad applicability.
“Cost Overruns in Public Sector Investment Projects” by Sarmento and Renneboog analyzes cost overruns in a large sample of public infrastructure projects in Portugal and found that the average cost deviation relative to budget estimates was 24%. In keeping with findings by others, the larger projects have a higher cost deviation and a higher probability of cost overruns, which the authors suggest may be that the public administration may not have sufficient expertise to handle these types of projects. Cost overruns were also found to be more likely in election years which may reflect political pressure to speed up infrastructure investments to harvest political goodwill. These are especially relevant findings as the new U.S. Administration has proposed an ambitious policy of infrastructure investment that will rely heavily on private sector participation.
The cost of labor can affect the feasibility of construction projects, and institutional laws and arrangements such as prevailing wage laws influence the employment levels and wage rates of the local labor supply. In “An Application of Difference-in-Difference-Difference Model: Effects of Prevailing Wage Legislation in Mountain States of the United States,” Harris, Mukhopadhyay, and Wiseman examine the impact on construction wages from prevailing wage laws in the Mountain States of the United States. Although this article indicates that removal of prevailing wage laws in the Mountain States could decrease wages by 4.4% after 10 years of repeal, these findings may not translate to the national level where most research on this topic has been conducted. Prevailing wage laws are highly politicized and actions to repeal them should be carefully considered and must be supported by objective analysis.
Finally, the conditions of water supply in rural Africa are analyzed in “Service Failures of Rural Water Supply Systems in Ethiopia and Their Policy Implications” by Behailu, Hukka, and Katko. Although focused on the developing world, this article has broader implications as water supply failures in the United States bear a discomforting resemblance to those occurring half a world away. As a significant number of rural communities in Ethiopia have been forced to turn back to unprotected sources due to service breakdowns of their water supply systems, these communities do not seem to receive the same attention as those building new systems. The findings indicate that lack of uniformity of implementation approaches and institutional and organizational incapability of the local government aggravate the service failures—findings that could have been made just as well in Flint, Michigan. A troubling thought, indeed.