Analysis of main influencing factors for social capital to play in public-private partnership projects in public hospitals

Analyzed in this paper are difficult roadblocks for social capital to"break into"public hospital by way of public-private partnership (PPP) projects. To name a few, the public welfare nature and non-profit nature, and sensitive political issues of public hospitals among other factors prevent such capital from directly making profit from the core businesses of these hospitals, hence almost impossible to design a feasible PPP model. Conflicting interest demands among stakeholders might make it a zero-sum game. New profit sources need to be created to cover such problems as insufficient returns on investment and long payback period. The financing risk exposure of social capital, which tends to be high, would push up the hidden debt risks shouldered by local government in question. In addition, there are not yet clear policies for social capital in terms of fiscal subsidy, tax preference and financing. All of these have curbed the"impulse"of social capital to a certain extent, pending better solutions. Key words: Hospitals, public; Social capital; Nature of public welfare; Interest demand; Return on investment