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Article
Modeling And Understanding Dispute Causation In The US Public-Private Partnership Projects
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
  • Mohamad Abdul Nabi
  • Rayan H. Assaad
  • Islam H. El-adaway, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

The partnership between the public and private sectors has led to a new and innovative way of delivering infrastructure projects that is referred to as public-private partnership (PPP). There are various benefits associated with PPP delivery methods including risk sharing, access to private funding, innovation, and flexibility, among others. Despite the proved benefits, contract conflicts and disputes are very common in PPP projects. While previous research studies examined the risks and the potential causes of conflicts in PPP projects, little-to-no research efforts were directed to study and model the interconnectivities between the different causes of conflicts in PPP agreements. To this end, the aim of this paper is to fill the gap in knowledge by providing a deeper understanding of the causalities or relationships between the different factors that cause disputes in PPP projects in the United States. The authors used a comprehensive analytical approach that involved three primary steps. First, 37 PPP case studies of infrastructure and construction projects were collected and analyzed using manual content analysis. Second, social network analysis was conducted to study the interdependencies between the different causal factors leading to disputes in PPP in general and in relation to Execution, Investment and Operation, and Third-Party Claims, in particular. Third, association rule analysis was conducted to identify key associations between the different causal factors that may trigger the three different types of PPP disputes. The findings showed that the key causes of disputes in PPP projects are related to (1) legal and regulatory, (2) payment and financial, and (3) poor management. While Execution-related disputes were found to be caused by complex interactions of causal factors, dispute causation of Investment and Operation-related and Third-Party Claims-related disputes seemed to be less simplistic. As such, the outcomes of this paper highlighted the important aspects required to avoid dispute occurrence in PPP projects. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the body of knowledge by providing directions for scholars and practitioners toward the aspects and interdependencies that require optimization and/or thorough consideration to avoid dispute occurrence and subsequently ensure successful implementation of PPPs.

Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
3-1-2024
Publication Date
01 Mar 2024
Citation Information
Mohamad Abdul Nabi, Rayan H. Assaad and Islam H. El-adaway. "Modeling And Understanding Dispute Causation In The US Public-Private Partnership Projects" Journal of Infrastructure Systems Vol. 30 Iss. 1 (2024) ISSN: 1943-555X; 1076-0342
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/islam-el-adaway/178/