A Study on the Efficiency Analysis of SOC Road Private Investment Projects

Since the enactment of the Private Investment Promotion Act in 1994, domestic SOC private investment projects have contributed significantly to revitalizing the Korean economy by addressing the government’s fiscal shortage and attracting private investment by promoting creativity and efficiency. So far, no research has been conducted to properly evaluate private investment projects. This study aims to diagnose the efficiency of private investment projects by comparing and analyzing the relative efficiency of private investment projects and public investment projects in the domestic road sector, which have been completed and operated. This study analyzed efficiency using Data Enforcement Analysis (DEA) and derived measures to promote private investment through Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). As of 2018, 28 public and private investment highways nationwide were analyzed by dividing the efficiency of each project into construction, operation, revenue, and integration efficiency. The efficiency of each highway was calculated through the DEA and the average difference between groups through T-Test was analyzed to compare the efficiency between groups of public and private investment projects. As a result of the T-Test analysis, the average difference between groups of operational and profit efficiency was significant, indicating that private investment projects were more efficient than public investment projects in operational and profit efficiency. This study demonstrated that domestic road private investment projects, which have long been promoted to overcome the limitations of SOC infrastructure financial investment and increase private investment, were efficient in line with the original purpose of private investment projects. In addition, they discussed what activation efforts were needed to revitalize private investment projects that could supplement government finances and facilitate efficient projects. Factors for activation of private investment projects were derived through expert surveys and implications were derived. According to the analysis, the importance score of the activation factors was higher than the satisfaction score, and while experts judged that the factors needed to revitalize the private sector project were important, the satisfaction level of the government policy fell short of that. Through this study, the policy implications include expanding government-announced projects, allowing and expanding private proposals for BTL (Build-TransferLease) private projects, introducing new private investment methods, revitalizing old facilities, and simplifying eligibility investigation procedures. We hope this research result will be used as an important reference for revitalizing private investment projects, and based on this, private investment projects will be activated.