Assessment of the government’s role performance in public-private partnership (PPP) toll road projects in Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to investigate the government’s role in the development of toll road projects that adopt public-private partnership (PPP) schemes in Indonesia. In addition to investigating its role, this study also attempts to quantitatively assess its performance as the use of quantitative analysis in this area is still fairly limited. The analysis was developed from the perspectives of two main stakeholders involved: government and private sectors. The findings of this study are expected to help both government and private sectors to better understand the government’s role as well as its performance in PPP toll road projects in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach The data was analysed by using statistical methods. Following the identification of the government’s role in PPP toll road projects from the literature, a preliminary survey involving 12 highway construction experts was conducted to verify the initial findings from the literature review. Subsequently, the authors conducted a survey of 146 respondents from both government and private sectors. To analyse the collected data, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used, which include analysis of means, analysis of reliability, as well as independent T-test. T-test was used to examine differences in perception between the two groups. Findings In total, 12 criteria from the literature were used to assess the government’s role and its performance in PPP toll road projects in Indonesia. Based on the analysis, the authors find that the government’s role in the development of PPP toll road projects can be considered moderate in its performance. In this respect, the author argue that, instead of focusing on meeting all the criteria, it would be better for government to focus on meeting only a number of them, which include realizing smooth land acquisition, selecting appropriate concessionaire, offering a solution to community protests over environmental issues, providing substantial government support, providing supervision, enforcing the law and eradicating corruption. The results of this study provide valuable information for international parties aiming to participate in PPP toll road projects in Indonesia, considering this country has been offering a wide opportunity for private sectors to be involved in developing infrastructure. Meanwhile, for the host government, the findings can be used as the basis for conducting improvements to attract private sectors’ involvement and to achieve more successful upcoming PPP toll road projects in Indonesia. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study might provide valuable information for the host government to evaluate its role and performance to achieve more successful PPP toll road projects in the future. Rather than focusing on all attributes, the improvements can be made by focusing only on the critical ones: those ranked high on the importance and low on its performance. In addition, this finding can also help private sectors to better understand both the role and performance of government in Indonesia as this country offers a great opportunity for infrastructure investment through PPP schemes. Practical implications The findings of this study might provide valuable information for the host government to evaluate its role and performance to achieve more successful PPP toll road projects in the future. Rather than focusing on all attributes, the improvements can be made by focusing only on the critical ones: those ranked high on the importance and low on its performance. In addition, this finding can also help private sectors to better understand both the role and performance of government in Indonesia as this country offers a great opportunity for infrastructure investment through PPP schemes. Social implications Text. Originality/value This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on the criteria to assess the government’s role performance in the Indonesian PPP toll road projects. Whilst there is still limited research has been conducted regarding the government’s role in the PPP toll road projects in Indonesia, this study presented the criteria of the government’s role and showed how to assess and evaluate the host government’s performance based on these criteria in a more objective approach using quantitative method. This result can be used as the basis for improvements to achieve a more successful PPP toll road project in Indonesia and might be in other similar developing countries.