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Public Private Partnerships from Budget Constraints: Looking for Debt Hiding?

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Buso

    (Unipd - Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua)

  • Frédéric Marty

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)

  • Tran-Phuong Tra

    (IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School)

Abstract

The use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to realize and operate public infrastructures is often associated with fiscal circumventing motivations. Using data at the municipal level, this paper investigates whether budget-constrained public authorities adopt PPPs in order to hide public debts. The results show that financial di culties often lead to a preference for PPPs instead of traditional forms of public procure- ment. However, this behavior is not explained by the possibility of debt hiding. We then discuss alternative explanations for these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Buso & Frédéric Marty & Tran-Phuong Tra, 2016. "Public Private Partnerships from Budget Constraints: Looking for Debt Hiding?," Working Papers halshs-01275217, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01275217
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01275217
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    Cited by:

    1. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2021. "Optimal ownership of public goods under asymmetric information," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    2. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2017. "Incomplete contracts, shared ownership, and investment incentives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 153-165.
    3. João M. Pinto & Mário Coutinho dos Santos & Pedro Verga Matos, 2021. "Contracting Out Public Transit Services: An Incentive Performance-Based Approach," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 02, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    4. Cepparulo, Alessandra & Eusepi, Giuseppe & Giuriato, Luisa, 2020. "Public finances and Public Private Partnerships in the European Union," MPRA Paper 103918, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Giuseppe Di Liddo & Annalisa Vinella, 2022. "Asymmetric yardstick competition: traditional procurement versus public-private partnerships," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 8(3), pages 669-695, November.
    6. Eva I. Hoppe & Patrick W. Schmitz, 2021. "How (Not) to Foster Innovations in Public Infrastructure Projects," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 238-266, January.
    7. Mansaray, Alhassan & Coleman, Simeon & Ataullah, Ali & Sirichand, Kavita, 2021. "Residual government ownership in public-private partnership projects," Journal of Government and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(C).
    8. Friese, Maria & Heimeshoff, Ulrich & Klein, Gordon J., 2020. "Property rights and transaction costs – The role of ownership and organization in German public service provision," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Kusterer, David J. & Schmitz, Patrick W., 2020. "Public goods, property rights, and investment incentives: An experimental investigation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 514-532.
    10. Mark A. Moore & Aidan R. Vining, 2023. "PPP performance evaluation: the social welfare goal, principal–agent theory and political economy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(2), pages 267-299, June.
    11. Herrera Dappe,Matias & Melecky,Martin & Turkgulu,Burak, 2022. "Fiscal Risks from Early Termination of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9972, The World Bank.
    12. Natalya Krivenko & Vladimir Elishev & Liudmila Kriventsova, 2019. "The Impact of Innovation on the Performance of Health Care in the Economic Security System of the Region," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(1), pages 164-177.
    13. Huanming Wang & Xiaoyun Sun & Yu Shi, 2024. "Commercial investment in public–private partnerships: the impact of government characteristics," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 230-260, January.
    14. Junjiao Gong & Yingyu Lu & Yang Xu & Jincun Fu, 2022. "Fiscal Pressure and Public–Private Partnership Investment: Based on Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    15. 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".
    16. Porumboiu Adriana Elena & Brezeanu Petre, 2022. "Determinants of Government Debt in the Member States of the European Union: Sources of Fiscal Risk," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 16(1), pages 707-721, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public-Private Partnership; debt hiding; budget constraint;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises

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