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Public-private partnerships and government spending limits

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Author Info
Maskin, Eric
Tirole, Jean

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Abstract

We consider public-private partnerships, in which a public official selects a project that is then developed and operated by a private contractor. We derive optimal public accounting rules when the official's choice among projects is biased by ideology or social ties or because of pandering to special interests. We give particular emphasis to how the rules should constrain the official's incentive to understate the costs of her pet projects. In the basic model, we show that the optimal accounting rule takes the form of a budget cap, with a project's expected cost modified to reflect the official's distortionary incentives. If the project can be partially financed privately, then "fixed-price" contracts can serve to curb political misbehavior by "securitizing" public sector liabilities. We also consider the possibility that development and operations are each handled by different contractors. Such "unbundling" deprives public accountants of forward information about future costs, but can prevent the official from funneling hidden future rents to contractors.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal International Journal of Industrial Organization.

Volume (Year): 26 (2008)
Issue (Month): 2 (March)
Pages: 412-420
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Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:26:y:2008:i:2:p:412-420

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505551

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jean-Jacques Laffont & David Martimort, 1999. "Separation of Regulators Against Collusive Behavior," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(2), pages 232-262, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Eduardo M.R.A. Engel & Ronald D. Fischer & Alexander Galetovic, 1998. "Least-Present-Value-of-Revenue Auctions and Highway Franchising," NBER Working Papers 6689, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Beetsma, Roel & Uhlig, Harald, 1999. "An Analysis of the Stability and Growth Pact," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(458), pages 546-71, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Jonathan Levin & Steven Tadelis, 2007. "Contracting for Government Services: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Cities," NBER Working Papers 13350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Martimort, David & Pouyet, Jérôme, 2006. "'Build It or Not': Normative and Positive Theories of Public-Private Partnerships," CEPR Discussion Papers 5610, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Martimort, David, 1999. "The Life Cycle of Regulatory Agencies: Dynamic Capture and Transaction Costs," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 66(4), pages 929-47, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Blanchard, Olivier J & Giavazzi, Francesco, 2004. "Improving the SGP Through a Proper Accounting of Public Investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4220, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Marco Bassetto & Thomas Sargent, 2005. "Politics and Efficiency of Separating Capital and Ordinary Government Budgets," NBER Working Papers 11030, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2000. "Good, Bad or Ugly? On The Effects of Fiscal Rules with Creative Accounting," IMF Working Papers 00/172, International Monetary Fund.
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  18. Eric Maskin & Jean Tirole, 2004. "The Politician and the Judge: Accountability in Government," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1034-1054, September. [Downloadable!]
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  19. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1991. "The Politics of Government Decision-Making: A Theory of Regulatory Capture," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(4), pages 1089-127, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Mintz, Jack M. & Smart, Michael, 2006. "Incentives for public investment under fiscal rules," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3860, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  21. Robert Inman & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 1997. "Rethinking Federalism," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series 1140, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. André De Palma & Luc Leruth & Guillaume Prunier, 2009. "Towards a Principal-Agent Based Typology of Risks in Public-Private Partnerships," Working Papers hal-00419234_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  2. Stephane Straub, 2008. "Infrastructure and Growth in Developing Countries: Recent Advances and Research Challenges," ESE Discussion Papers 179, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Straub, Stephane, 2008. "Infrastructure and development : a critical appraisal of the macro level literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4590, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Eduardo Engel & Ronald Fischer & Alexander Galetovic, 2009. "Soft budgets and Renegotiations in Public-Private Partnerships," Documentos de Trabajo 265, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile. [Downloadable!]
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