Financing transport sector through public–private partnerships (PPPs): a macroeconomic, governance and project-specific perspective

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors determining the financing of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the transport sector. This study has mainly focused on macroeconomic, governance and project-specific factors to assess the determinants of financing transport sector through PPP in India. Design/methodology/approach For the analysis, this study has used time-series analysis by using the autoregressive distributed lag model. This study used the data from 2000 to 2023 to examine determinants of PPP financing in the transport sector of India. Findings The empirical evidence of this study suggests that higher GDP per capita and market capitalization influence PPP financing as macroeconomic factors. In governance and project-specific factors, political stability, government effectiveness, regularity quality and project size influence the financing of the PPP transport sector. Practical implications The results assist policymakers in framing strategies for macroeconomic, governance and project-specific factors to attract more PPP financing to develop the much-needed transport sector. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the few that have examined the financing of PPP, and it is the first to examine the determinants of PPP financing in the transport sector.