Public-Private Cooperation for Infrastructure Development

Abstract

Relying both on TC and RBV, we argue that cooperation with public actors allows firms to access the key resources for designing and locating infrastructure facilities and, at the same time, to mitigate information costs and the risks of opportunistic behaviour. Our model has been tested through a survey analysis involving 83 managers from Italian local transport and water utilities. Preliminary descriptive statistics confirm that benefits stemming from cooperation refer to the opportunity to: (i) close the capability gap, i.e. to acquire knowledge on the most uncertain elements of the infrastructure project; (ii) reduce transaction costs, i.e. to strengthen the project governance and to increase the public acceptance of facilities.

Keywords: transaction costs, resource-based view, public-private cooperation, infrastructure

JEL Classification: L9, R53, H54