Sarvari, H; Chan, D W M; Banaitiene, N; Norhazilan Md, N and Beer, M (2021) Barriers to development of private sector investment in water and sewage industry. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 11(1), pp. 52-70. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Privatization is a complex issue in many developing countries; therefore, it is vital to examine the obstacles that prevent its proper implementation. The goal of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers to private sector investment in the Water and Sewage Industry (WSI) and to suggest effective ways to attract the private investors to this sector. The obstacles to private sector investment in the WSI were identified by conducting a desktop literature review and interviewing an expert panel, using the fuzzy Delphi technique. The most important barriers were identified and categorized. A structured survey was then developed and distributed to private sector investment experts. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was applied to further examine the responses and to rank the identified barriers. The results showed that the greatest barrier to privatization is the weakness of insurance companies in controlling investment risks, and the second greatest barrier is the weakness of the country's capitalist culture. A review of recent success stories revealed that these barriers can be overcome with transparent price policies and increased interaction between the public and private sectors, which motivate private investors to invest in the WSI. The elicitation of this study can be useful to both private and public sectors for the development of infrastructure projects, particularly for the WSI.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | privatization; private sector; water and sewage industry; fuzzy analytic hierarchy process; Iran; productivity; developing countries; public sector; climate change; Delphi method; Iraq |
| Index terms: | survey, public sector, productivity, private sector, literature review, water and sewage industry, Delphi method, investor, developing country, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, fuzzy Delphi, climate change, interaction, implementation, privatization, infrastructure project, insurance |
| Subjects: | economic analysis, contractual arrangements, data analysis and analytics, climate science, data collection methods, behavioral psychology, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis, administrative law, decision-making and optimization, sociology, development economics, management |
| Topics: | Procurement, Sustainability, Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, International Construction, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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