Rintala, Kai M (2004) The economic efficiency of accommodation service PFI projects. PhD thesis, University College London, UK.
Abstract
"In 1992, the UK Government introduced the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) as a policy o allow and regulate privately financed public projects. However, PFI is better understood as an innovative procurement method. PFI involves a private sector entity taking the responsibility to design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) an asset used in the provision of a public service for a contract period of up to four decades. It is widely propositioned that PFI procurement leads to improved value for money (VFM) and profit for the public sector clients and private sector actors respectively as a result of improvements in economic efficiency. The aim of this research is to generate a detailed understanding of how the economic efficiency of an accommodation service PFI project is determined in its development through contract whole life cost (CWLCP) minimisation. This research consists of two case studies on large and complex accommodation service PFI projects. It focuses, in particular, on the effects of PFI procurement on the heating and ventilation design solutions of the project-facilities. The data obtained is self-report interviews, public and private sector issued project documentation and expert opinions. The data is subjected to solution, incentive, opportunity and perception analyses. The research unexpectedly identifies only a small number of design solutions that are incorporated in the project-facilities with the aim of achieving CWLCP reductions. In other words, the research finds that the economic efficiency improvement in the procurement of public accommodation services due to the adoption of PFI is considerably smaller than proposed by economic theory. This, however, does not suggest that the economic efficiency of PFI accommodation services is found to be worse than those procured traditionally. The research establishes that the limited improvement is because of: the guidance documentation used to govern the design of PFI project-facilities; the market testing mechanism used to adjust the payment for the service provision in the operational phase; the organisation of the private sector actors in the project development; and the lack of good quality data to estimate expected CWLCP reductions. The research develops possible strategies to rectify the identified problems. The adoption of these strategies should enable the economic efficiency of future accommodation service PFI projects to be improved through CWLCP minimisation."
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | private finance initiative; design build finance and operate; public private partnership; accommodation service; economic efficiency |
| Index terms: | project documentation, public project, private finance initiative, value-for-money, minimization, interview, documentation, ventilation, profit, whole life cost, strategy, design build finance and operate, public-sector client, public private partnership, project development, estimate, testing, case study, efficiency, procurement method, economic theory, private sector |
| Subjects: | financial analysis, industry analysis, sociology, professional development, evaluation, infrastructure engineering, algorithms, performance management, management, project delivery, financial and cost management, economic analysis, professional practice, contractual arrangements, project planning, air quality, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Digital Applications, Procurement, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Quality Management, Value Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here