Integrating ‘Difficulty in management’ as a decision-making criterion in the risk assessment of PPP infrastructure projects

Risk assessment is pivotal in managing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects, as risks can significantly influence project outcomes. In the literature, qualitative and quantitative methods have been utilized for risk assessment in PPP projects. However, qualitative approaches are preferred due to challenges in risk quantification and prevalent data constraints. The existing frameworks predominantly utilize the impact of occurrence (I) and probability/frequency of occurrence (F) for assessing risks. Although important, these existing qualitative frameworks often overlook the manageability aspect of risks, i.e., how easy or difficult it is to manage them. To address this gap, this article proposes an additional criterion, ‘Difficulty in Management’ (DIM). The proposed framework aims to integrate DIM into conventional risk assessment frameworks. The developed framework is implemented in a case study of Indian highway PPP projects to test the framework and demonstrate its benefits. The case study highlighted that adding DIM as an additional criterion is justified and can provide critical information to the decision-makers. Assessing risks through a manageability lens can guide policy, practice, and future research directions in the field.