Cian O'Shea

Cian O'Shea

Economics Researcher

Posts by Collection

portfolio

Examining the Role of Institutional Resilience in European Public-Private Partnerships

Public-Private Partnerships often face contract failure, renegotiation, and refinancing. This paper comparatively analyses road PPPs in Ireland and Spain, exploring how national institutional frameworks (centralisation, legal flexibility, oversight) influence these disruptions. Using qualitative case studies and quantitative data, findings show that institutional design is key. Ireland’s proactive, centralised model contrasts with Spain’s decentralised, reactive system. The study highlights the role of institutional resilience in governance and offers policy recommendations for more robust PPPs.

The Causal Impact of Exogenous Shocks on Public-Private Partnerships in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

This paper investigates Public-Private Partnership (PPP) adoption and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries, addressing a critical gap in existing public management literature. Utilising the World Bank’s Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) database (1990-2023), this paper employs quasi-experimental identification strategies. A Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework examines the causal impact of externally imposed Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) on PPP initiation. Concurrently, an event study design analyzes how major political transitions affect PPP project sustainability. The anticipated findings reveal that PPPs are driven not solely by economic rationale, but significantly by exogenous international pressures and domestic political dynamics, contributing vital evidence to public administration theory on the political economy of infrastructure.

From Crisis to Completion: A Case Study of Contractor Insolvency Risk Management in Ireland’s Schools PPP Bundle 5

This study presents a case analysis of the Irish Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Schools Bundle 5 project, and examines how the 2018 liquidation of the main contractor Carilion provides a useful case study for the management of PPP risks during a contractor failure. Making use of public documents, this paper outlines the events following the 2018 and details how the remaining private partner and the government successfully managed the crisis, and ensured project completion. The paper also provides a comparative analysis with UK hospital projects, also impacted by Carillion, this provides a useful counter-case and highlights how robust risk allocation and proactive public-sector management can lead to improved outcomes in the case of contractor failure.

publications

Comparing PPP with Traditional Procurement: The Case of Schools Procurement in Ireland

Published in Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 2019

Advocates of public-private partnerships (PPPs) argue that they can deliver public infrastructure more efficiently than traditional procurement through timelier completion and superior value for money. Despite these claims comparative analysis of the performance of both procurement methods has received scant attention in the PPP literature to date. This paper addresses this issue by providing an in-depth, case-based comparison of PPP versus traditional procurement in the schools sector in Ireland. Through detailed semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and an examination of the available documentation, we assess whether the key objectives of using PPP have been achieved. Overall, we find no evidence that PPP leads to faster delivery of infrastructure when the overall procurement process from contract notice to delivery is accounted for. In addition, we find only limited evidence to suggest that PPP results in better value for money.

Recommended citation: O’Shea, C., Palcic, D. and Reeves, E. (2019) "Comparing PPP with traditional procurement: The case of schools procurement in Ireland ", Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 90(2), pp. 245–267.
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Using PPP to Procure Social Infrastructure: Lessons From 20 Years of Experience in Ireland

Published in Public Works Management & Policy, 2020

Ireland has almost two decades of experience with using public private partnerships (PPPs) for the procurement of social infrastructure such as schools, courthouses, and health facilities. This article focuses on Ireland’s schools sector where 27 school buildings with an estimated capital value of €500 million have been procured via PPP to date. We review the changes that have occurred to the governance of PPPs and supporting institutional structures, which have evolved considerably over the past 20 years. Evidence of policy learning has led to the development of detailed PPP guidelines and the establishment of a centralized PPP agency with responsibilities that exceed international norms. We highlight how the development of PPP institutions has been an ongoing and gradual process, which will continue to evolve if concerns in relation to accountability and transparency are to be addressed.

Recommended citation: O’Shea, C., Palcic, D. and Reeves, E. (2020) "Using PPP to Procure Social Infrastructure: Lessons From 20 Years of Experience in Ireland ", Public Works Management & Policy, 25(1), pp. 201–213.
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From the hypothetical to reality: an analysis of ex-ante and ex-post VfM in Irish PPP schools

Published in Assessing the Performance Advantage of Public-Private Partnerships, 2022

We compare the ex-ante and ex-post performance of Irelands first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for a bundle of schools with a comparable set of traditionally procured (Design & Construct) schools. We find that PPP schools were considerably more expensive to construct; however, they deliver a significantly higher level of service, building maintenance, and quality. In financial terms, our data does not permit an accurate judgment of value-for-money. Although ex-ante estimates indicate that annual operation and maintenance costs are significantly higher in traditionally procured schools, we cannot confirm this using ex-post data. We do, however, gain insights from data on the annual funding of schools. This shows that PPP schools are allocated higher and more reliable annual funding, which confers considerable advantages in terms of resourcing maintenance and ensuring a consistent quality of service. This finding raises a serious policy issue regarding inequities in the funding provided to PPPs versus traditionally procured schools.

Recommended citation: O’Shea, C., Palcic, D. and Reeves, E. (2022) "From the hypothetical to reality: an analysis of ex-ante and ex-post VfM in Irish PPP schools ", in , in Verweij, S., van Meerkerk, I., Casady, C., eds., Assessing the Performance Advantage of Public-Private Partnerships, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 51-74.
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Does Practice Make Perfect? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Contractual Governance of Ireland’s First Public‐Private Partnership

Published in Public Administration, 2025

This paper examines how contractual governance in a public–private partnership evolved over a 16‐year period. It adopts a novel approach by revisiting an earlier analysis of Ireland ’s first PPP contract for schools infrastructure. We examine contractual governance at two distinct levels: the contract management level (between government and contractor) and the operational level (between school principals and facilities managers). We find that contractual governance between contracting parties has remained transactional but is now characterized by higher levels of trust and cooperation. However, we find that contractual governance has shifted from transactional to relational at the operational level. A number of factors have contributed to the evolution toward increased relational governance. These include the transfer of contract management to a newly established specialized PPP procurement agency, changes in personnel involved in the project, and the adoption of a more devolved approach to facilities management through the introduction of on‐site facilities managers.

Recommended citation: O’Shea, C., Palcic, D. and Reeves, E. (2025) "Does Practice Make Perfect? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Contractual Governance of Ireland ’s First Public‐Private Partnership ", Public Administration, online doi 10.1111/padm.13059.
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talks

teaching

University of Limerick 2016 - 2023

Position: Teaching Assistant/Module Leader, University of Limerick, Department of Economics, 2016

From 2016 to 2023 I worked both part-time and full-time as a Teaching Assistant in Economics at the University of Limerick. During that time I taught a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate modules (For more details on the each module click the link above.)

  • EC4904: Principles of Economics (1st Year Undergraduate): Lecturer
  • EC4101 & EC4111: Microeconomics (Business and Non-business) (1st Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4102 & EC4112: Macroeconomics (Business and Non-business) (1st Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4004: Economics for Business (2nd Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4404: Applied Economic Analysis (2nd Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4307: Econometrics (3rd Year Undergraduate): Lab Assistant
  • EC4427: Managerial Economics (4th Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4018 & EC4418: Monetary Economics (4th Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC4408: Public Finance (4th Year Undergraduate): Teaching Assistant
  • EC6061: Applied Data Analysis for Economics (Postgraduate): Lab Assistant
  • EC6112: Econometrics (Postgraduate): Lab Assistant

Trinity College Dublin 2023 - 2025

Position: Teaching Fellow in Economics, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics, 2023

From 2023 to 2025 I was employed as a Teaching Fellow in Economics at Trinity College Dublin. During that time I taught and developed a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate modules (For more details on the each module click the link above).

  • ECU33082 Mathematical Economics (3rd Year Undergraduate): Lecturer
  • TEU00462 Sustainable Development Goals and Policy Evaluation (2nd Year Undergraduate Elective): Lecturer
  • ECP77230 Research Methods for Economic Policy Analysis (MSc. Economics and MSc. in Economic Policy): Lecturer
  • ECP77403 Introduction to Statistics and Regression Analysis (Diploma in Applied Economics and Big Data): Creator and Lecturer
  • ECP77421 Microeconometrics (Diploma in Applied Economics and Big Data): Creator and Lecturer
  • ECP77432 Macroeconometrics (Diploma in Applied Economics and Big Data): Creator and Lecturer
  • ECP77172 Quantitative Methods for Economics I (1st Year MSc. in Economic Policy): Lecturer
  • ECP77001 Econometrics I (MSc. Economics): Lab Assistant
  • ECP77002 Econometrics II (MSc. Economics): Lab Assistant