The Effects of Public–Private Partnerships on
Partnering Private Sector Firms
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Hong Nhung Dao
Master of Economics, the University of Finance, Vietnam
Bachelor of Economics, the University of Finance, Vietnam
School of Economics, Finance and Marketing
College of Business
RMIT University
July 2017
Declaration
I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author
alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other
academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since
the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or
unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines
have been followed.
Hong Nhung Dao
20 July 2017
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Acknowledgements
Doing a PhD has been the hardest time ever in my life and I would like to express my special
thanks to all who have supported and encouraged me to experience my PhD journey in the
most enjoyable manner.
My sincerest gratitude goes to my senior supervisor Professor Jing Shi for his immense
knowledge and professional guidance though every step of my studies. I cannot imagine com-
pleting my PhD without his expert supervision, insights and enthusiasm, which greatly inspired
me to overcome research challenges, to achieve research milestones and to pursue my desired
career. I wish also to express my heartfelt thanks to my former senior supervisor Associate
Professor Vijaya Bhaskar Marisetty for his expertise and motivation. I consider him to have
had an enormous influence on me since he always encouraged me to pursue challenging research
tasks that had not been undertaken in the existing literature. His inspiring belief is that the
exploration of new insights is the greatest reward for a researcher, and more importantly, he
always believed that I could do it. I also express my gratitude to my joint senior supervisor Dr
Monica Tan who has always been thoughtful towards me and who has shared her professional
academic expertise and shed light on my academic thinking and writing.
My immense gratitude goes to all panel members in my three important research milestones
throughout my PhD time line who gave me invaluable feedback that helped me shape and clarify
my research in an appropriate academic manner. I also wish to express my special thanks to
Dr Philippa Moylan who provided professional and dedicated editorial assistance that helped
me convey my ideas and knowledge effectively. My deep thanks go to academic staff members
at RMIT University for their generous support.
My very special gratitude goes to the Australian Government, the Australia Awards spon-
sors and their staff, Graham, Jamie and Thao Phuong, for their dedicated support. The
Australia Awards Scholarship has provided me with a golden opportunity to fulfil my big
dream of studying for a PhD in Australia, and I feel it has been great honour to have had this
opportunity.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to Associate Professor Nguyen Trong Co,
Associate Professor Bui Van Van and all my colleagues (in the University of Finance in Vietnam)
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who always supported me in completing my studies. Especially, my very sincere thanks to
Associate Professor Nghiem Thi Tha, my leader as well as my big influencer, for her deep
understanding, her inspiration and her dedicated support.
My very warm and heartfelt thanks go to my parents, my parents-in-law, my little brothers
and all my family and friends for their love and their spiritual support during every step of
my PhD. I am greatly indebted to them for their encouragement and their sacrifices that
always motivated me to push ahead and try my best to reach my achievements. Last but most
importantly, I would like to express my greatest thanks to my beloved husband Nguyen Minh
Tuan who spent sleepless night with me as I completed this thesis. I would like to thank him
for his unconditional love, his sacrifices, his deep understandings and caring towards me, every
moment of my wonderful PhD journey.
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Table of Contents
Declaration ........................................ i
Acknowledgements .................................... ii
List of Figures ...................................... ix
List of Tables ....................................... x
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Research Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Research Objectives, Research Questions and Main Findings . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Research Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.1 Theoretical Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.2 Methodological Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.3 Practical Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 Structure of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5 Research Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 Background and Literature Review on Public–Private Partnerships 17
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 Definitions and Characteristics of Public–Private Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Background on Public–Private Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Public–Private Partnerships in China and India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.5 Economics of Public–Private Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.5.1 Contract Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.5.2 Ownership and Risk Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.5.3 Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.6 Effects of Public–Private Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.6.1 Effects of Public–Private Partnerships on the Public Sector . . . . . . . . 33
2.6.2 Effects of Public–Private Partnerships on Partnering Private Firms . . . 34
2.7 Effects of Government Reliance and Institutional Quality on Partnering Private
Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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