A research team led by Professors Kim Yu-ri and Roh Tae-woo of the School of International Studies at Hanyang University has announced research results identifying the motives for companies to participate in foreign direct investment(FDI) for public-private partnership(PPP) projects in developing nations. The study has been recognized for its authority, with online publication on February 1 in Sustainable Development, the top international academic journal in the world in the field of development studies with an impact factor(IF) of 8.2. In particular, undergraduate student Choi Seo-yoon from the School of International Studies was listed as a co-first author, making this a meaningful case demonstrating the qualitative achievements of undergraduate research participation.

This study analyzed the ‘Tina River Hydropower Project in the Solomon Islands,’ a representative public-private partnership project involving the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). The project is a success story of a development cooperation-type PPP involving international financial institutions such as the World Bank(WB) and the Asian Development Bank(ADB), alongside domestic public and private enterprises like Korea Water Resources Corporation and Hyundai Engineering. The research team detailed how a blended finance structure—combining Official Development Assistance(ODA) funds with private investment—mitigated political and financial risks and induced private sector investment participation.

Focusing on the limitations of the traditional ‘OLI paradigm’ in explaining development cooperation environments with high investment uncertainty, the research team newly proposed the ‘OLIP framework,’ which integrates partnership-specific advantages(P). Through case analysis and expert surveys, they demonstrated that multilateral partnership structures operate as strategic participation drivers for companies, moving beyond simple business forms. This is expected to serve as a key basis for governments and international organizations when designing policies and projects to promote private participation in the future.

Professor Roh Tae-woo, the corresponding author of the paper, is a scholar who has been named to Stanford University’s ‘World’s Top 2% Researchers’ list for two consecutive years, and co-first author Professor Kim Yu-ri continues to achieve research results in the field of sustainability while being active in academia as a member of organizations such as International Development Cooperation Association. The research team stated, “It is a very meaningful achievement that research with an undergraduate student as a lead author has been recognized for its academic value in a world-class academic journal.”