Is public-private partnership a panacea for infrastructure development? the case of Beijing National Stadium

Public-private partnership (PPP) is such a hot concept that nowadays it is discussed everywhere be it a public sector management journal or a public sector management conference. Governments subject to severe fiscal pressure in developing countries like China, where PPP law is not in place yet, regard it as a panacea or fixed solution for infrastructure development. This paper hence attempts to provide reference to this point by investigating the Beijing National Stadium. There was a significant change in the Project Company on 20 August 2009. Three main reasons for the contract change were (1) wrong identification of the retractable roof as one of the output specifications, (2) adoption of PPP without a careful feasibility study and (3) strong government interference like suspension of selling name-right and prohibition of holding small-scale or small events. It was found that PPP would not be more appropriate than conventional procurement in this project. It was therefore proved that PPP is not a panacea for infrastructure development. It is expected that a review of the Beijing National Stadium can provide valuable information for when and how to implement PPPs. More considerations on receiving value for money in the whole project lifecycle (including the operation) should be taken in a PPP project. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Spin Dependence of Interfacial Reflection Phase Shift at Cu/Co Interface

The spin dependent reflection at the interface is the key element to understand the spin transport. By completely solving the scattering problem based on first principles method, we obtained the spin resolved reflectivity spectra. The comparison of our theoretical results with experiment is good in a large energy scale from Fermi level to energy above vacuum level. It is found that interfacial distortion is crucial for understanding the spin dependence of the phase gain at the Cu$|$Co interface. Near the Fermi level, image state plays an important role to the phase accumulation in the copper film.Comment: 6 papges, 3 figures, accepted by Physical Review

Formation of optimal private involvement in urban rail public-private partnership projects in China

© 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Subnational governments in China are suffering from urgent urban development demands and severe fiscal pressure, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are hence strongly promoted to attract private investors to participate in the development and operation of urban rail projects. However, there is no formal assessment to determine the degree of private involvement in a PPP project. This question is more critical in the sector of urban rail, in which the huge investment cannot rely on the private sector alone. This study hence aimed to develop a five-stage systematic procedural framework to determine the optimal private involvement in an urban rail PPP project in China. The findings add to the current knowledge base by summarising an appropriate and systematic procedural framework for the allocation of involvement in a PPP project. They are also beneficial for the industry practitioners as a management framework to determine the appropriateness of private involvement

Steady Bell state generation via magnon-photon coupling

We show that parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry can be spontaneously broken in the recently reported energy level attraction of magnons and cavity photons. In the $\mathcal{PT}$-broken phase, magnon and photon form a high-fidelity Bell state with maximum entanglement. This entanglement is steady and robust against the perturbation of environment, in contrast to the general wisdom that expects instability of the hybridized state when the symmetry is broken. This anomaly is further understood by the compete of non-Hermitian evolution and particle number conservation of the hybridized system. As a comparison, neither $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry broken nor steady magnon-photon entanglement is observed inside the normal level repulsion case. Our results may open a novel window to utilize magnon-photon entanglement as a resource for quantum technologies.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

Construction project management is a multidimensional discipline that requires meticulous consideration of various critical aspects, including cost, quality, schedule requirements, as well as social and environmental impacts [...