IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v48y2017icp184-194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public-Private Partnerships as rent-seeking opportunities: A case study on an unsolicited proposal in Lima, Peru

Author

Listed:
  • Takano, Guillermo

Abstract

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are often seen as a panacea for a more efficient provision of public services and infrastructure. However, they may have adverse effects especially in weak institutional environments. This paper focuses on how the design and performance of PPP enabling mechanisms such as ‘unsolicited proposals’ (USP) permit and incentivize rent-seeking behavior in subnational contexts. It aims to elucidate the hazards of USP mechanisms by the incorporation of a perspective on incentives, which is important since it helps to map the environment where corruption and opportunism unfold. It also confronts the design of PPP policies with the specificities of certain political environments. The case-study on a large-scale road infrastructure project shows that the expected reliance on technical expertise and competitive procurement for guaranteeing public interest was outweighed by a number of design flaws. These problems were related to asymmetric, non-transparent and discretionary decision-making that led to a reallocation of unearned rents.

Suggested Citation

  • Takano, Guillermo, 2017. "Public-Private Partnerships as rent-seeking opportunities: A case study on an unsolicited proposal in Lima, Peru," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 184-194.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:48:y:2017:i:c:p:184-194
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2017.08.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178717301558
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2017.08.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lambsdorff, Johann Graf, 2002. "Corruption and Rent-Seeking," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(1-2), pages 97-125, October.
    2. David Martimort & Flavio Menezes & Myrna Wooders & ELISABETTA IOSSA & DAVID MARTIMORT, 2015. "The Simple Microeconomics of Public-Private Partnerships," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(1), pages 4-48, February.
    3. repec:elg:eechap:15325_1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. John T. Hodges & Georgina Dellacha, 2007. "Unsolicited infrastructure proposals : how some countries introduce competition and transparency," World Bank Publications - Reports 10718, The World Bank Group.
    5. Dilip Mookherjee & Pranab K. Bardhan, 2000. "Capture and Governance at Local and National Levels," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 135-139, May.
    6. Frédéric Boehm & Juanita Olaya, 2006. "Corruption In Public Contracting Auctions: The Role Of Transparency In Bidding Processes," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(4), pages 431-452, December.
    7. Pranab Bardhan & Dilip Mookherjee, 2006. "Decentralisation and Accountability in Infrastructure Delivery in Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 101-127, January.
    8. Estache, Antonio & Iimi, Atsushi, 2009. "Auctions with endogenous participation and quality thresholds : evidence from ODA infrastructure procurement," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4853, The World Bank.
    9. Eva I. Hoppe & Patrick W. Schmitz, 2013. "Public-private partnerships versus traditional procurement: Innovation incentives and information gathering," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 44(1), pages 56-74, March.
    10. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    11. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June.
    12. Prud'homme, Remy, 1995. "The Dangers of Decentralization," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 10(2), pages 201-220, August.
    13. Roger D. Congleton & Arye L. Hillman (ed.), 2015. "Companion to the Political Economy of Rent Seeking," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15325.
    14. Bent Flyvbjerg, 2014. "What You Should Know About Megaprojects, and Why: An Overview," Papers 1409.0003, arXiv.org.
    15. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Straub, Stéphane & Flochel, Thomas, 2016. "Public Procurement and Rent-Seeking: The Case of Paraguay," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 395-407.
    16. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    17. Estache, Antonio & Iimi, Atsushi, 2008. "Procurement efficiency for infrastructure development and financial needs reassessed," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4662, The World Bank.
    18. Ostrom, Vincent & Tiebout, Charles M. & Warren, Robert, 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 831-842, December.
    19. Jean-Jacques Laffont & David Martimort, 1999. "Separation of Regulators Against Collusive Behavior," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(2), pages 232-262, Summer.
    20. Daniel Albalate & Germ� Bel & R. Richard Geddes, 2015. "The determinants of contractual choice for private involvement in infrastructure projects," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 87-94, January.
    21. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01109351 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Oliver E. Williamson, 1976. "Franchise Bidding for Natural Monopolies -- in General and with Respect to CATV," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 7(1), pages 73-104, Spring.
    23. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1996. "The Political Economy of Corruption : Causes and Consequences," World Bank Publications - Reports 11629, The World Bank Group.
    24. Antonio Lecuna, 2012. "Corruption and Size Decentralization," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 139-168, May.
    25. Antonio Lecuna, 2012. "Corruption and size decentralization," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 15, pages 139-168, May.
    26. Marques, Rui Cunha, 2017. "Why not regulate PPPs?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 141-146.
    27. Mark Dutz & Clive Harris & Inderbir Dhingra & Chris Shugart, 2006. "Public-Private Partnership Units : What Are They, and What Do They Do?," World Bank Publications - Reports 11175, The World Bank Group.
    28. Michael Hudson, 2011. "Simon Patten on Public Infrastructure and Economic Rent Capture," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 874-903, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Qun & Shi, Xuejun & Zhang, Jianghua, 2019. "Influence of rent-seeking on safety supervision in Chinese construction: Based on a simulation technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-9.
    2. Takano, Guillermo, 2021. "The competitive performance of public-private partnership markets. The case of unsolicited proposals in Peru," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Bonifaz, José L. & Saavedra, Eduardo H., 2023. "Aggressive bidding and the renegotiation of concession contracts: Empirical evidence from Peru," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Xiao, Zengqi & Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee, 2022. "Effects of project-specific government involvement actions on the attractiveness of port public-private partnerships among private investors," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 59-69.
    5. Liu, Jiaqi & Liu, Jicai & Bu, Zehui & Zhou, Yining & He, Peifen, 2022. "Path analysis of influencing government's excessive behavior in PPP project: Based on field dynamic theory," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 522-540.
    6. Matteo Stiglich, 2021. "Unplanning urban transport: Unsolicited urban highways in Lima," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1490-1506, September.
    7. Guoli Feng & Shengyue Hao & Xiaoguang Li, 2022. "Project Sustainability and Public-Private Partnership: The Role of Government Relation Orientation and Project Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    8. He, Xiaolong & Wang, Chaoyi & Yang, Xiaowei & Lai, Zhoujing, 2021. "Do enterprise ownership structures affect financial performance in China's power and gas industries?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Takano, Guillermo, 2021. "The competitive performance of public-private partnership markets. The case of unsolicited proposals in Peru," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Upasna Sharma & Anna Scolobig & Anthony Patt, 2012. "The effects of decentralization on the production and use of risk assessment: insights from landslide management in India and Italy," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(2), pages 1357-1371, November.
    3. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    4. Emmanuelle Auriol & Antonio Estache & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2018. "Can Supranational Infrastructure Regulation Compensate for National Institutional Weaknesses?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 69(6), pages 913-936.
    5. Yeon-Koo Che & Elisabetta Iossa & Patrick Rey, 2021. "Prizes versus Contracts as Incentives for Innovation [Subgame Perfect Implementation Under Information Perturbations]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2149-2178.
    6. Ivar Kolstad & Arne Wiig & Vincent Somville, 2014. "Devolutionary delusions? The effect of decentralization on corruption," CMI Working Papers 10, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    7. Lars P. Feld, 2006. "Regulatory Competition and Federalism in Switzerland: Diffusion by Horizontal and Vertical Interaction," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-22, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    8. Marco Buso & Luciano Greco, 2023. "The optimality of public–private partnerships under financial and fiscal constraints," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 856-881, October.
    9. Enikolopov, Ruben & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2007. "Decentralization and political institutions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2261-2290, December.
    10. Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Schulze, Günther G., 2014. "Administrative Overspending in Indonesian Districts: The Role of Local Politics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 166-183.
    11. Buso, Marco & Marty, Frederic & Tran, Phuong Tra, 2017. "Public-private partnerships from budget constraints: Looking for debt hiding?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 56-84.
    12. Schmitz, Patrick W., 2021. "Optimal ownership of public goods under asymmetric information," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    13. Toke S. Aidt, 2016. "Rent seeking and the economics of corruption," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 142-157, June.
    14. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055, September.
    15. Chowdhury, Shyamnal & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Dewina, Reno, 2009. "Governance decentralization and local infrastructure provision in Indonesia:," IFPRI discussion papers 902, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Vlad Tarko & Andrew Farrant, 2019. "The efficiency of regulatory arbitrage," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 141-166, October.
    17. Lewis, Blane D. & Nguyen, Hieu T.M. & Hendrawan, Adrianus, 2020. "Political accountability and public service delivery in decentralized Indonesia: Incumbency advantage and the performance of second term mayors," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    18. Antonio Estache & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2012. "Supranational Infrastructure Regulation: Institutional Opportunities and Challenges," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2012-025, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    19. Antonio Estache & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2010. "What Anti-Corruption Policy Can Learn from Theories of Sector Regulation," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2010-033, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    20. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:25-48 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Antonio Estache, 2016. "Institutions for Infrastructure in Developing Countries: What We Know and the Lot We still Need to Know," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-27, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:48:y:2017:i:c:p:184-194. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.