Ex post impact evaluation of PPP projects: An exploratory research

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore, in literature and practice, the use of ex post impact evaluations within the public–private partnership (PPP) context and understand the major considerations for developing a PPP ex post impact evaluation method. Design/methodology/approach: This paper applies exploratory research through expert interviews from Chile and Australia to describe: the relevance of this kind of evaluation, and the challenges of designing and conducting a PPP ex post evaluation. Findings: The study confirms the lack of a formal method for evaluating the impact of a PPP project. Experts agree on the relevance of performing ex post evaluations to PPP projects and that in practice there is no formal procedure to follow. Among other challenges, experts discussed four general ex post evaluation aims: transparency and accountability, PPP legitimization, industry learning and government agency learning. Research limitations/implications: This study confirms the gap in knowledge and contributes to the developments of approaches to perform ex post impact evaluation of PPP projects. It also provides several suggestions that need to be addressed when attempting to evaluate PPPs beyond the financial and contractual parameters. Originality/value: The topic is not fully addressed in the literature, and this study contributes to the initial discussion and development of this evaluation method, which is considered significant for the development of public infrastructure.