Is Blockchain technology effective for government’s supervision? An behavioral evolutionary game on performance governance of infrastructure PPP projects

Performance governance is the key to the sustainable development for operation and maintenance of water environment treatment Public-private Partnership projects, and the government’s supervision is an important link. However, the traditional supervision way often brings low efficiency and high cost for government, and Blockchain technology has been put on the agenda. To explore whether Blockchain technology effective for government’s supervision, this study investigates the behavioral decision-making between government and private sector, and an evolutionary game model is constructed to describe the adjustment of one party’s behavior strategy as the other party’s behavior choices. The findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, the usage of Blockchain technology is reflected in supervision and additional costs for government, and the private sector’s strategy choice adjusts with the government’s supervision way. Second, due to the private sector’s profit-driven nature, the additional cost or benefit will motivate them to make strategic choices that benefit them, and the usage of Blockchain technology can really stimulate them to choose to work hard during the projects’ operation and maintenance process. This study provides valuable insights into motivating private sectors to actively participate in projects’ operation and maintenance process, and promoting sustainable performance management.