Frederic Blanc-Brude created Infrastructure Economics with Olivia Jensen.

Until the end of 2009 he was the director of the Chinese office of a leading British consultancy specialised in energy and water economics. He currently lives in Shanghai.

He holds a PhD in finance from King’s College London, a MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics, a master’s degree in Economics from the Sorbonne University (Panthéon, Paris 1) and a Diploma from the Institute for Political Studies of Paris (Sciences Po).

He is also a research fellow of King’s College London and lectures regularly in Chinese universities.

Frederic’s current research interests include:

• infrastructure and project finance
• utility regulation
• risk transfer and long-term contracts
• real estate economics
• banking competition and regulation
• spatial econometrics

In the News

• Infrastructure Journal March 2010, on project finance in China
• Emerging Markets May 2010, on Asian infrastructure finance

Research Experience:

Peer-Reviewed Papers

• A Comparison of Construction Contract Prices for Traditionally Procured Roads and Public-Private Partnerships, with Hugh Goldsmith and Timo Välilä, Review of Industrial Organisation, 2009 Vol. 35, number 1 and 2, pp.19-40. Special Issue on Public-Private Partnerships
• How Do Banks Price Debt to Public-Private Partnerships? Evidence from Europe, with Roger Strange, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 2007, Fall Issue, pp.94-106.

Recent Talks & Conference Papers

• The Contribution of Urban Development to China’s Economic Growth, European Association of China Studies Conference, Riga, Latvia Forthcoming Jul-2010
• Competition for Long‐Term Public‐Private Risk Transfer Contracts – Ex ante and ex post Efficiency in Public‐Private Partnerships and Evidence from the School Sector in the UK, International Conference on “Contracts, Procurement and Public-Private Agreements”, Sorbonne University, Paris, France Jun-2010
• Les Consequences de la Crise Financiere sur les Financements PPP – Petits Dejeuners de la Chaire d’Economie des PPPs, Sorbonne University (Panthéon – Paris 1), Paris, France May-2010
• Risk Transfer in Long-Term Public-Private Contracts for Infrastructure Delivery: Theory and Evidence, The Lowy Institute, Sydney – The Economics of Infrastructure in a Globalised World: Issues, Lessons and Future Challenges. Hosted by the Asian Development Bank, the Brookings Institution, The Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (NAU) & Worley Parson Mar-2010
• Project Finance: How to Boost Infrastructure Investment and Growth, International Think Tank Series – Executive Seminars in China, SDA Bocconi School of Management, Shanghai Mar-2010
• Sustainable Infrastructure Development in China – Nanning International Conference on Sustainable Mobility, Nanning Planning Bureau, Guangxi Autonomous Region, China Dec-2009
• Are Chinese House Prices Too High? with Jue Wang, CRIOCM (Chinese International Institute on Construction Management) 2009 International Symposium at Nanjing Southeast University Oct-2009
• The Chinese Wastewater Sector: Fundamentals and Efficiency – Leader of workshop part of the Asia Water Summit (International Business Conference), also Chair of plenary sessions, Shanghai, China, April 2008.
• Public-Private Partnerships in the Road Sector – VejForum (Annual Conference of the Transport Ministry of Denmark), Denmark, Dec-2007
• The Risk-Averse State: The Portfolio Benefits and the Cost of Risk Transfer in PPPs. Evidence from the Transfer of Construction Risk in the European Road Sector – International Conference on Public-Private Partnerships, Competition and Institutions, Sorbonne University, Paris Dec-2007
• Why Does Utility Regulation Matter? A Practitioner’s Round Table, Chair. Global Water 2007 Conference (International Business Conference), Barcelona, Apr-2007
• The Cost of Debt in Public-Private Partnerships, Evidence from the European Syndicated Loan Market – Academy of International Business Annual Conference, London, Apr-2007 & Association Française de Finance, Paris, Dec-2007
• The Future of the Desalination Market in China – Global Water 2007 Conference, Barcelona Apr-2007
• The PPP Premium, a Comparative Analysis of the Cost of Construction in Public-Private Partnerships and Traditionally Procured Road Projects – 5th Annual Conference on Applied Infrastructure Research, Berlin Sep-2006
• The Chinese Water Market: Risks and Opportunities, with Olivia Jensen – British Water Association, London Jul-2005
• The Hand-Shake: Why do Governments and Firms sign PSP deals? – 4th Annual Conference on Applied Infrastructure Research, Berlin Oct-2005

Other Recent Publications

• Public-Private Risk Transfer Public-Private Partnerships, Long-term Contracts and Price Discovery – A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance, School of Social Science and Public Policy – King’s College London Jan-2008
• Public-Private Partnerships in Europe: An Update – with Hugh Goldsmith and Timo Välilä, European Investment Bank, Economic & Financial Report 2007/03, Economic and Financial Studies, Luxembourg, Dec-2007
• The Handshake: Why Do Governments and Firms Sign Private Sector Participation Deals? Evidence from the Water and Sanitation Sector – with Olivia Jensen, World Bank, Working Paper 3937, Washington DC Apr-2006
• Development-driven Public-Private Partnerships in Water – with Olivia Jensen, a Report for the World Economic Forum and G8 Jun-2005

Books

• China Urban Economies, with Olivia Jensen IE Publishing, Stow-on-the-Wold, UK, ISBN: 978-0-9565085-1-5 Forthcoming Apr-2010
• The Project Finance Benchmarking Report (1995-2009), with Camille Arnaud and Olivia Jensen, IE Publishing, Stow-on-the-Wold, UK, ISBN: 978-0-9565085-0-8, 578pp Feb-2010
• Understanding the Chinese Water Desalination Sector, with Olivia Jensen, Media Analytics Publishing, Oxford, UK, ISBN: 0-9547705-4-4, 120pp Dec-2006
• The Water Market in Asia, Projects and Investment Opportunities, with Olivia Jensen, Media Analytics Publishing, Oxford, UK, ISBN: 0-9547705-6-0, 403pp, Jan-2005
• The Water Market in China, Projects and Investment Opportunities, with Olivia Jensen, Media Analytics Publishing, Oxford, UK, ISBN: 0-9547705-5-2, 387pp Sep-2004

Teaching & Lecturing

• Executive Training: “Financing Independent Power Projects” Euromoney training course, Singapore. Design and delivery of a detailed course on private infrastructure financing for executives, Forthcoming Nov-2010
• Executive Education: 3-Day PPP Seminar. Design and delivery of an advanced 3-day seminar for the students of the Urban Management Executive Master Program of ESSEC business school (France). Annual training programme for 20-30 mid-level managers in the utilities and public sector, focusing on private sector delivery of public service, in partnership with King’s College London, since 2009
• Guest Lecturer (Undergraduate lecture): Shanghai Normal University (CIEE), “The Chinese Economic Development Model: Myth and Reality” – Guest lecture on the fundamental of Chinese economic growth, Sep–2009
• Post-Graduate Teaching: International Finance Seminar at King’s College London: Assistant Lecturer in the Management Department of King’s College London. Weekly International Finance seminar (3 times 20 students), part of the International Management MSc Programme, two consecutive years. Seminars on advanced economic and econometric research, 2005-7

Recent Consulting Projects

• Chinese Economic Development Zone Strategy, Jiangsu Province, China: Spatial analysis of the Yangtze River Delta’s industrial structure and development of the industrial and infrastructure plans of a province-level EDZ located near Nanjing. Jul-2009 to Nov-2009
• Financial Due Diligence and Negotiation Support, Shanghai, Pudong: Advising a Taiwanese developer on a new project in the Zhangjiang High-Tech zone in Shanghai, Pudong. Financial modeling and investor presentations. Private client. Aug-2009
• Urumqi City Investment Strategy: Economic Impact Analysis and Real Estate Forecast for the development of the RMB1bn, Central Asia Forum Project, a new 100,000 inhabitant city near Urumqi, Xinjiang (China). Private client, Dec-2008 to Mar-2009
• China Cities 2009-2015: Economic Analysis and Forecast of the Development of the Chinese Urban Landscape and Property Markets. Private client, Jan-2009 to Jun-2009
• Infrastructure Investment Review and Investment Opportunities in the MENA Region and the Role of Gulf Council Countries Infrastructure Funds. Client: KPMG and undisclosed US$1bn Infrastructure Fund, Aug-2008 to Sep-2008
• PPP in the Chinese municipal environment sector. Member of a consortium providing sector expertise to KfW along with NERA (UK), Unirule (PRC) and Tremolet Consulting (UK). Sector overview report and ex post due diligence on a loan made by KfW for a wastewater public-private partnership. The results were presented at a seminar for Chinese municipal officials in Beijing. Client: Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) May-2006 to Sep-2006
• Construction Risk and Construction Costs in European PPPs, European Investment Bank: The project involved the review of the European Investment Bank’s portfolio of PPP projects, detailed review of project appraisal documentation and the development of a unique database. One particular objective was the study of unit costs in European infrastructure projects and the impact of private finance and risk pricing on the cost of construction of European motorways. Sep-2005 to May-2006