Strategic Issues in Public-Private Partnerships, 2nd Edition
By: Geert Dewulf, Anneloes Blanken, Mirjam Bult-Spiering
Published: April 17, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 186 pages
ISBN-10: 0470656352
ISBN-13: 978-0470656358
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
"Worldwide, governments are depending increasingly on private investment for the development of large infrastructure projects. Government budgets are limited and the involvement of the private sector enables governments to carry out ambitious projects", write Professor of Planning and Development, and Head of the Department of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Twente, The Netherlands; Policy Advisor to the Dutch Ministry of Finance, Annaloes Blanken; and Secretary of the 3TU Federation, The Netherlands, Mirjam Bult-Spiering, in the revised edition of their comprehensive and thought provoking book Strategic Issues in Public-Private Partnerships, 2nd Edition. The author describe how the public private partnership (PPP) is an increasingly important method for national governments to fund and develop infrastructure and urban development through private sector participation, and provide the tools and principles involved in these growing numbers of partnerships.
Geert Dewulf (photo left), Anneloes Blanken, and Mirjam Bult-Spiering provide an overview of issues surrounding concession PPPs, and how they are created around the world to generate Value for Money. The objective of the procurement processes is to optimize the cost benefit balance. Politically, Value for Money is easy to sell, and to utilize as a rationale for developing concession policies, but is difficult to quantify. As a result, public debate on concessions and their value are more theoretical and ideological, and less empirical and quantitative in nature.
The authors address the various issues, misconceptions, and general confusion that have grown up around concession PPPs. The authors enter into a discussion of improving the performance of concession PPPs, including a basis for creating and developing functional concessions.
Anneloes Blanken (photo left), Mirjam Bult-Spiering, and Geert Dewulf recognize the need for improved strategic decision making, through a deeper understanding of the developments within the PPP landscape, the various types and forms of concession PPPs, and the motives and rationales for entering into a concession PPP arrangement.
To provide a complete overview and analysis of the nature and types of concession PPPs, and their implications and rationales, the authors provide the following areas of study:
* The emergence of concessions
* Procurement of concessions
* Infrastructure concessions
* social infrastructure
* Concession PPPs and flexibility
* Economic context and concessions
* Concessions and public interest
* Value for Money revisited
* Conclusion: PPPs and future developments
For me, the power of the book is how Mirjam Bult-Spiering (photo left), Geert Dewulf, and Anneloes Blanken combine a strong theoretical foundation for understanding the nature and implications of concession PPPs with a practical analysis of the concepts at work in the real world. The book contains very informative chapters on the various types of concession PPPs, and including a wide range of applications where the process is in use.
The authors provide the lessons learned, from both success and failure of public private partnerships, with an eye to improved management in the future. The authors don't shy away from the controversies surrounding concession PPPs, and the various arguments used on the various sides of the issue.
At the core of the book is the concept of Value for Money, and the impact of concession contracts, including procurement and the various tools and approaches used in the procurement process. Tee authors emphasize that the book is not a simple manual, but instead is designed to stimulate strategic debate, and to develop an agenda for future research into the various aspects of public private partnerships.
I highly recommend the insightful and conceptual book Strategic Issues in Public-Private Partnerships, 2nd Edition by Geert Dewulf, Anneloes Blanken, and Mirjam Bult-Spiering, to anyone in public policy, elected office, industry leadership, engineering, finance, public watchdog organizations, non-profit organizations, academia, and graduate and undergraduate students in all disciplines who are seeking an approachable and well balanced guide to the ideas and principles involved in public private partnerships.
No comments:
Post a Comment