Development characteristics of public-private partnership projects using fuzzy approach in China during 2016–2018

Abstract

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been adopted extensively in public infrastructures in China. Numerous studies have explored development patterns for future PPP projects success based on either literature review or case studies. This paper aims to probe into the spatiotemporal dynamics of China’s PPP and clarify regional differentiation by frequency analysis, coefficient of variation and cluster analysis. The result shows that the implementation rate has a slight increase along with time series although PPP projects gradually return to rational development. The fuzzy set is utilized to handle with ambiguity in some linguistic risk allocation criteria to lower the fuzziness and bias in knowledge expert which is qualitative that handles real time decision making. The municipal sector has been occupied the largest share of PPP projects while state-owned enterprises still dominate the biggest PPP marketed components. Local governments prefer viability gap subsidies although central government encourages user payment. Spatial difference coefficient is so high reflecting obvious regional differentiation of provincial PPP development. Recommendations are ultimately put forward to enhance China’s future PPP promotion, which will provide a valuable direction for government to make PPP customized policies.