Reconciling Purpose and Profit in Impact Investment Decisions of a Multi-level Public-Private Collaboration

The transition to sustainable energy solutions necessitates substantial investment and collaborative efforts. Public-private collaborations (PPCs) have emerged as a promising avenue, channeling resources into impactful initiatives like Hydrogen Valley development. Despite their potential, PPCs when aiming for impact face challenges such as conflicting goals among collaborators and market uncertainties. Focusing on a cross-border hydrogen valley project in Europe, we employ prospect theory to investigate factors influencing firms’ investment decisions in PPCs, considering both firms’ perception of their gains and risks and also their purpose to go beyond economic objectives. Additionally, we introduce the concept of multi-level PPCs in large-scale infrastructure projects to address challenges and help align divergent goals. Through interviews with key stakeholders and the Gioia inductive approach, we uncover motivations and barriers, and assess the role of collaboration levels in driving engagement in impact-driven initiatives. This research fills gaps in the literature, shedding light on the dynamics of multi-level collaborations and their role in effectively addressing grand challenges.