Government subsidies and the development of PPP projects: evidence from China

Based on micro data on public-private partnership (PPP) projects in China, this study adopts the survival analysis model and the difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) method to explore the effects of government subsidies on PPP project development. We investigate PPP project development from the perspective of contract signing and construction commencement, making an original contribution to the existing literature. We find that government subsidies can promote the faster signing of PPP contracts but cannot promote on-time construction commencement of PPP projects. This is because government subsidies do not solve the financing constraints that restrict the commencement of PPP project construction. Additionally, government subsidies can promote the faster signing of PPP contracts and on-time construction commencement of PPP projects in areas with high PPP market transparency.