Regular Ph.D. Fellow, Cohort 2025

Research Interests

• Hybrid Governance
• Public-Private Partnerships
• Public Land and Asset Management
• Immovable Asset Portfolio Optimization
• Real Estate
• Urban and Regional Planning

Dissertation topic
Governance Designs and Public Value Creation in Emerging Economies

Dissertation abstract
Abstract: Public Immovable asset portfolios in emerging economies are collectively worth trillions of euros, yet remain chronically underutilised and under-optimised, generating fiscal losses that constrain inclusive economic development. In South Africa, the national portfolio held by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure exceeds €31.9 billion on an accumulated-surplus basis, but delivers yields well below market benchmarks due to entrenched bureaucratic inertia, fragmented governance, and misaligned principal–agent incentives. This dissertation tests the proposition that hybrid Public–Private Partnership (PPP) governance generates measurably higher financial returns and stronger public value co-creation relative to centralised alternatives. Organised as three cumulative papers, it combines a bibliometric analysis of 6,600 Web of Science publications, a staggered Difference-in-Differences evaluation of South Africa’s REIPPPP programme, and a counterfactual comparison using the Johannesburg Property Company against the City of Tshwane’s centralised management. Theoretically grounded in Agency Theory and complementary public governance perspectives within a Strategic Asset Optimisation (SAO) framework, the dissertation provides quasi-experimental evidence to inform asset governance reform in emerging markets.

Academic Supervisors
Lennart Ante
Fabian T. Dehos