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How (Not) to Foster Innovations in Public Infrastructure Projects

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  • Schmitz, Patrick W.
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Abstract

The government wants an infrastructure-based public service to be provided. First the infrastructure has to be built, subsequently it has to be operated. Should the government bundle the building and operating tasks in a public-private partnership? Or should it choose traditional procurement, i.e. delegate the tasks to different firms? Each task entails unobservable investments to come up with innovations. It turns out that depending on the nature of the innovations, bundling may either stimulate or discourage investments. Moreover, we find that if renegotiation cannot be prevented, a public-private partnership may lead the government to deliberately opt for a technologically inferior project.

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  • Schmitz, Patrick W. & ,, 2018. "How (Not) to Foster Innovations in Public Infrastructure Projects," CEPR Discussion Papers 13406, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13406
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    Cited by:

    1. Müller, Daniel & Schmitz, Patrick W., 2021. "The right to quit work: An efficiency rationale for restricting the freedom of contract," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 653-669.
    2. Mahavadi Dhanshyam & Samir K. Srivastava, 2021. "Governance structures for public infrastructure projects: Public–private management regimes, contractual forms and innovation," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 652-668, August.
    3. Patrick W Schmitz, 2022. "How (Not) to Purchase Novel Goods and Services: Specific Performance Versus at-will Contracts," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(647), pages 2563-2577.
    4. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2023. "Incentivizing research with (un)conditional teaching duties: Punishment or rent extraction?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    5. Jiancai Pi, 2021. "An investigation of seeming favoritism in public procurement," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 89(1), pages 128-137, January.
    6. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2023. "The proper scope of government reconsidered: Asymmetric information and incentive contracts," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Kräkel, Matthias, 2021. "On the delegation of authority," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 965-981.
    8. Elmar G. Wolfstetter, 2021. "Universal High-Speed Broadband Provision: An Alternative Policy Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 9014, CESifo.
    9. Wolfstetter, Elmar G., 2022. "Universal high-speed broadband provision: A simple auction approach," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. Alena Podaneva & Pierre Picard, 2023. "Facility Management Services in UK Hospitals: in-house or outsourcing," DEM Discussion Paper Series 23-15, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    11. Marco Buso & Luciano Greco, 2021. "The Optimality of Public-Private Partnerships under Financial and Fiscal Constraints," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0276, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Procurement; Innovations; Public-private partnerships; Moral hazard; Renegotiation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement

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