A model for designing the tendering process in public–private partnerships

The present study aimed to develop a decision model for choosing the tendering procedure in public–private partnerships that minimises the transaction costs borne by the public sector. With this aim, a baseline conceptual model that relates the level of transaction costs and the information managed during the tendering process and identifies the tendering procedure that minimises the transaction costs has been developed. The application of the proposed conceptual model to contexts characterised by different values of project size, project complexity and number of bidders reveals that the choice of the tendering procedure is strongly affected by these factors. The approach developed provides a new conceptual tool to support the contracting authority in the design and choice of the tendering procedures in public–private partnerships.