Performance of Public–Private Partnerships and the Influence of Contractual Arrangements

This article seeks to answer two research questions: does public-private partnerships (ppp) live up to its promises to government? How do contractual arrangements affect ppp performance? We propose a conceptual framework to evaluate ppp performance by comparing actual project outcomes to government goals in initiating the partnerships, and to explore how a set of contractual arrangements affect the ppp performance on each identified goal. The framework is applied to a comparative case analysis of highway ppp experiences in the commonwealth of virginia (us) since the 1990s. The results show that these ppp cases were successful in accessing innovative finance, but their performance was mixed on reducing construction risk and transferring revenue risk. Generally improved over time with later projects, the ppp performance was affected not only by interaction among contractual arrangements –private partner selection, financial arrangements, role division, risk allocation, and project characteristics – but also by authorizing and supportive legislation in the policy domain.     

The territoriality of personalization: New avenues for decentralized personalization in multi-level Western Europe

In light of the increasing scholarly attention to the concept of decentralized personalization, this paper argues that the territoriality (the level of government to which an MP belongs) of an MP would also lead to variations in that MP’s incentive to personalize their campaigns. Using data from the PARTIREP Comparative MP survey, this paper tests the role of the territoriality of an MP in their incentive to personalize their campaigns across nine multi-level countries in Western Europe. Although the level of personalization of campaigns does differ according to territoriality, the underlying explanatory variables do not behave uniformly across territoriality. This paper thus draws attention to the rarely explored role of territory, and the complications it may bring to the explanation of the personalization of politics.     

Protecting Personal Information

正Curbing personal information theft and trading In January, Wang Cheng, a local resident in Beijing, ordered a portable hard drive from Dangdang.com, a leading Chinese B2C site, but received two deliveries.Wang signed for the first package and paid 399 yuan ($63.33) as required without hesitation, because the deliveryman had     

Your Life Up in Smoke

正The government prepares to introduce new anti-tobacco measures as the number of smokers in the country continues to grow China will establish further regulation on smoking control in public places in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO)     

Will of the Party

正Elections are done to embrace the upcoming national congress With the conclusion of the 11th Beijing Municipal Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)on July 3, China has completed the reshuffling of its Party leaders at the provincial-municipal level.INTLOA     

Plotting the Course

正New policies are needed to clarify the future of private education In 1993, Zhang Jieting invested more than 100 million yuan ($15.87 million)to establish the Beijing 21st Century Experimental School, when private schools were still a rarity in China. Over the past two decades, he has expanded his business into a group of 30 schools, including one primary school, one middle school, one college and 27 kindergartens.     

Poised to Strike

正Through trials and tribulations,Chinese soccer gets pumped for a revival On December 19,2011,the long-awaited Chinese soccer corruption trials began in Tieling,in northeast China's Liaoning Province.