Investment decision model of wastewater treatment public-private partnership projects based on value for money

Most existing studies analyse the early decision-making processes of public-private partnership (PPP) projects from the perspective of the government or investors, as such decisions involve lengthy negotiations and are likely to lead to unfair results. Hence, there is a need for fair and reasonable investment decision-making methods. This study investigates the investment return system of PPP wastewater treatment projects. The net present value of investment income is considered the investment decision indicator of social capital, while value for money (VFM) is the indicator of government decision-making. Considering both yield and VFM, the system dynamics method and Vensim software are used to establish the investment decision model. A case study validates the proposed model and predicts a reasonable range of unit prices and concession periods for wastewater treatment through government-enterprise cooperation, to improve the transparency and initial decision fairness of PPP sewage treatment projects.