Since the emergence of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the 1980s, there has been a structural change in the way countries now finance and provide public infrastructure. Although national governments apparently encourage PPPs and many of them have succeeded, some others have failed.
Using data from transport sector projects for 72 low- and middle-income countries from the Private Participation in Infrastructure Project Database of the World Bank, we investigate the role of three main factors in the success of these transport PPPs: national experience, the presence of private investors, and the influence of multilateral lenders. The results of the study highlight the importance of the foundation provided by national experience. Not only does national macroeconomic experience appear to have a relevant role, but so also does its past experience (either positive or
negative) of transport PPP projects. An interesting finding of the analysis is the importance for the final outcome of a PPP project of the perception that the rest of the world has of a country’s level of corruption and democratic accountability.