In modern days, along with restricted traditional funding sources and massive demand of infrastructure investment comes a significant gap of funding. Institutional investors are considered reliable sources of financing for infrastructure due to the long-term investment horizon and asset/liability management (ALM) requirement. Hence, institutional investors start to embrace infrastructure as an attractive asset class because infrastructure assets are able to generate long-term, stable, and predictable cash flows and diversify investors’ portfolios. As a result, financial innovations to encourage institutional investment have become an important issue. Asset-backed securitization (ABS) of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure project’s receivables has been promoted in China since Dec. 2016 as an alternative financing instrument to encourage institutional investment to finance infrastructure projects. Traditional approaches of project financing are considered less attractive vis-à-vis the innovative PPPABS financing method, regarding liquidity, steady operational asset, risk sharing, bankruptcy remoteness, long maturity, and standardization. Despite these advantages, lack of knowledge and experience is still preventing project participants from seeking finance opportunities with PPPABS. In order to provide a guideline for practitioners to understand this innovative financing method, this thesis proposes a feasibility assessment framework for financing PPP infrastructure projects through ABS. Firstly, a list of 25 critical success factors (CSFs) of PPPABS is identified through a literature analysis, case studies, and expert interviews. Then a questionnaire survey is designed to collect opinions on these 25 critical factors from not only PPP stakeholders but also capital markets. Preliminary analysis is performed then to have a basic understanding of the data, including descriptive analysis, agreement analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Furthermore, after applying factor analysis to reduce the dimensions of the model, 5 principal components are derived, including “Effective ABS issuance and lifetime management”, “Clear regulatory guidance”, “Robust PPP and concessional arrangements”, “Supportive capital market conditions”, and “Reliable underlying asset quality”. Based on this finding, an assessment framework and index are proposed for PPPABS financing. Afterward, a case study of the pilot batch of PPPABS in China is presented as validation of the framework. By investigating the causal relationships among the critical factors of successful PPPABS financing, an advanced model is constructed to assist the project participants to quantify the feasibility. A focus group is conducted to collect rating data from experienced experts who have participated infrastructure ABS issuance and management intensively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) method is used to analyze the rating data of PPPABS products on the market. Hypothetical models are then examined, and the best-fit model for illustration is verified and proposed. Causal relationships in this model are investigated and proved to be significant. The result indicates that “Capital market conditions”, “Underlying asset quality”, and “Regulatory guidance” are exogenous variables and affect the overall feasibility of PPPABS indirectly. Furthermore, both “ABS issuance and lifetime management” and “PPP and concessional arrangements” are endogenous variables, affecting the overall feasibility directly. The path coefficients are employed to calculate the weights allocated to each principal factor and to create the feasibility assessment index. In the end, the pilot batch of PPPABS launched in China is used again to illustrate the application in practice and validation of the advanced assessment model. As an in-depth work to understand critical pricing determinants of PPPABS, a regression analysis is performed to build a financing cost estimation model for practitioners. This work can serve as a fundamental guideline in this particular research area of ABS financing for infrastructure projects. And the proposed framework shall support the decision-making process for not only the project managers who consider financing through ABS, but also the institutional investors who consider investment opportunities in PPPABS products.

The multitude of public-private partnership (PPP) designs and interpretations reflects the lack of an authoritative definition of PPP. What each definition of PPP has in common is an emphasis on collaboration and shared decision-making towards a common goal. To explore what partnership means to PPPs that are focused on health system strengthening, the researcher conducted a literature review and two case studies: one on Labs for Life, and another on a partnership between the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Sysmex, and the Namibian Ministry of Health. The emphasis on collaboration led the researcher to use collaborative governance as a conceptual framework, drawing from a paper by Chris Ansell and Alison Gash (2007). The two PPPs varied greatly in how external factors (e.g. power and prehistory) impacted the partnership, and to what extent the PPPs embraced the collaborative process. The PPPs were similar in many ways, too – both acknowledged the importance of building trust through cultural understanding and expectation management. Third parties were key in both partnerships, enabling the collaborative process. The results of this study underscore the heavy burden that the word, partnership, carries; if public-private partnership implies the purposeful application of collaborative governance, then this study supports an alternative term: public-private interaction (PPI). This new term removes the assumption that all partners are fully equal and that decision-making processes are collaborative and consensus-oriented. Indeed, PPPs (or PPIs) come in all shapes and sizes and degrees to which they are true to collaborative governance. These findings contribute to an evidence base of lessons-learned that will enable PPPs/PPIs to focus on health system priorities while honestly assessing the relevance and application of collaborative governance.

This dissertation employs an organizational approach to examine how reentry organizations seek to provide social value as public-private partnerships with the mission statement of aiding the reintegration of the formerly incarcerated. With the help of a case study of a reentry organization in Cleveland, Ohio, I examine the sociological significance of the discursive “brokerage metaphor” of reentry organizations as brokers of the social and cultural capital the formerly incarcerated require as catalysts for their reintegration back into society. Based on ethnographic data and in-depth field interviews collected over a period of 16 months in Cleveland, Ohio, my research finds that the “brokerage metaphor” for reentry elides important factors which play an integral role in the organizational behavior of reentry organizations and the sociological experience of reentry for the formerly incarcerated. These other factors notably include the competitive and regulatory organizational environment of the reentry organization, and the intersectional identities of formerly incarcerated women. These external factors reveal the paradox of the public-private partnership represented by the reentry organization wherein some obstacles that stymie the objectives of the reentry organization might be attributed to its public partner, the government. Furthermore, my research finds that besides the brokerage of social and cultural capital, reentry organizations as public-private partnerships provide other tangible benefits for achieving the reentry of the formerly incarcerated, such as a remove from the carceral continuum that invites participation and creates the space for community-building. This dissertation research advances a new direction for the study of public-private partnerships wherein the lens of inquiry is not merely on the private partner, rather, the spotlight is also trained on the external impediments that prevent the organization from achieving full social value. This direction for research bodes well for determining appropriate and effective ethical policy interventions to addressing pressing social problems through public-private partnerships and social enterprise.

There are 4 billion poor living on 2 dollars or less per day that make up the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP). If a company calculates their aggregated purchasing power they could be a huge and profitable market. By studying the roles of the different actors and their preconditions in BOP markets the purpose with this thesis is to find out how the private sector can pursue a sustainable market development strategy at the bottom of the economic pyramid and if it really will help to reduce poverty. By using a qualitative study, this thesis interviews each actor in the Mexican market except the government. Also a resume from a case study presents Unilever’s operations in Indonesia. The theory suggests that the actors in the markets should create partnerships that lead to a social transformation and improvement in the lives of the poor. Therefore this thesis concentrates on sustainable development the entrepreneurs, government, customers and the private enterprises role in a BOP-strategy. From the field study it is clear that it exists a huge informal system in Mexico which makes it hard for an efficient market to work. Our interviews with the NGOs shows that they have access to huge networks, work with marketbased solutions but are dependant on financial contributions from government and private sector. Both private enterprises show that they are working with both process and product innovations for the BOP-market. For example they both sell small sachets of shampoo that are affordable for the poor and they are also cooperating with local distributors to access all the small supermarkets across the country they are present in. Essential for pursuing a BOP-strategy is that a company innovates for satisfying a need at a lower cost. They should also work with partners to get the local knowledge that they do not have themselves. The study can not come to a conclusion if the strategy under study will reduce poverty although there is a clear link between sustainability and poverty reduction. The point with sustainability in the consumer markets is that the products and services offered increases the disposable income, the choices, and the self identity of the per-son living in poverty. Only then can a BOP-strategy develop together with its market, resulting in a sustainable market development strategy, which, when pursued responsibly can lead to a triple-win situation for the poor, private enterprises and the environment.

<p>There are 4 billion poor living on 2 dollars or less per day that make up the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP). If a company calculates their aggregated purchasing power they could be a huge and profitable market.</p><p>By studying the roles of the different actors and their preconditions in BOP markets the purpose with this thesis is to find out how the private sector can pursue a sustainable market development strategy at the bottom of the economic pyramid and if it really will help to reduce poverty.</p><p>By using a qualitative study, this thesis interviews each actor in the Mexican market except the government. Also a resume from a case study presents Unilever’s operations in Indonesia.</p><p>The theory suggests that the actors in the markets should create partnerships that lead to a social transformation and improvement in the lives of the poor. Therefore this thesis concentrates on sustainable development the entrepreneurs, government, customers and the private enterprises role in a BOP-strategy.</p><p>From the field study it is clear that it exists a huge informal system in Mexico which makes it hard for an efficient market to work. Our interviews with the NGOs shows that they have access to huge networks, work with marketbased solutions but are dependant on financial contributions from government and private sector. Both private enterprises show that they are working with both process and product innovations for the BOP-market. For example they both sell small sachets of shampoo that are affordable for the poor and they are also cooperating with local distributors to access all the small supermarkets across the country they are present in.</p><p>Essential for pursuing a BOP-strategy is that a company innovates for satisfying a need at a lower cost. They should also work with partners to get the local knowledge that they do not have themselves. The study can not come to a conclusion if the strategy under study will reduce poverty although there is a clear link between sustainability and poverty reduction. The point with sustainability in the consumer markets is that the products and services offered increases the disposable income, the choices, and the self identity of the per-son living in poverty. Only then can a BOP-strategy develop together with its market, resulting in a sustainable market development strategy, which, when pursued responsibly can lead to a triple-win situation for the poor, private enterprises and the environment.</p>

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Joseph G. San Miguel, Rodney E. Tudor. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-83). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Ron Tudor, Rodney E. Tudor. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64). Also available online.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-66).

This research proposes a methodological framework for the probabilistic evaluation of the financial viability of transportation infrastructure projects procured as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). In doing so a methodological approach is undertaken. First, this research investigates the various risks of PPP projects, in particular the investment risk in terms of both the depth and its corresponding methods of evaluation, yielding a new method for more accurate estimation. Second, it examines the multiple facets of financial viability, stemming from the different meaning that it has for the various project stakeholders, i.e., the public authority, the lenders and the equity investors. From this study a connection between the financial viability and the investment risk is established for the purpose of using the latter for the assessment of the former. Based on this established connection, this research proposes a general methodological framework that can be used for the probabilistic evaluation of the financial viability of other types of revenue-generating transportation infrastructure projects, procured as PPPs. This framework proposes the evaluation of the financial viability through the estimation of the project's investment risk, using available numerical and/or analytical approximation techniques such as the Method of Moments. The general methodological framework is then utilized for the specific case of highway toll-road concession projects, where detailed and specific quantitative models are devised for the determination of the costs and revenues of these projects. Additionally, and by capitalizing on similar models found elsewhere in the literature, this dissertation also proposes a process to increase the accuracy of the Maintenance and Rehabilitation cost estimates, borrowing concepts stemming from reliability and stochastic processes. The findings of this research are expected to help all project stakeholders with their evaluation of whether or not a project under consideration is capable of achieving their respective financial targets. The proposed methodology can be used as a quantitative tool for project evaluation and investment appraisal by all project stakeholders. However, as in any decision support methodology, the purpose of the proposed framework is not to replace decision makers but to help them make better and informed decisions. / text

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration