Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Engineering Standards In Highway Design Litigation, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Tracing A History Of Atlanta’S Public Transit, Joseph Hurley

Joe A. Hurley

No abstract provided.

Review Of Managing Disasters And Disasters And The American State, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

These two new books tackle the topic of disaster management and response from very different angles but share a focus on the role of public- and private-sector institutions in managing crises. Both works suggest that the United States should attempt a more optimal balance among private, public, and local actors than can be found in current disaster management systems.

Impacts Of Pay-As-You-Throw And Other Residential Solid Waste Policy Options: Southern Maine 2007–2013, Travis Blackmer, George Criner

George K. Criner

Municipal solid waste management in the U.S. began a transformation in the 1980s as a result of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation requiring the closure of municipal “dumps.” This legislation, coupled with increasing total and per capita waste, resulted in waste management receiving national attention. Maine and other states began broad efforts to reduce and wisely manage their municipal solid wastes. Many states established solid waste goals, with Maine targeting a waste diversion rate of 50 percent. Four common residential waste management programs in Maine include curbside trash collection, curbside recyclable collection, single-stream recycling, and pay-as-you-throw programs. This article …

Solid Waste Management In Local Municipalities, George K. Criner

George K. Criner

For most of the era since 1960, when environmental policy and resource policy have been central public issues, the focus of public debates on those policies was at the federal and state levels. Now, more and more of the decisions and policies that will determine the quality of life for citizens are being made at the local level. Issues that have historically been local prerogatives are increasingly identified as crucial for effective environmental policy and for insuring "quality of life." Those local decisions are often constrained by a wide variety of state and federal policies on environmental policy and resource …

Solid Waste Management Options For Maine: The Economics Of Pay-By-The-Bag Systems, Stephanie Seguino, George Criner, Margarita Suarez

George K. Criner

State and federal environmental mandates during the last three decades have changed the nature of the debate over solid waste disposal, but not the basic question: What do we do about the garbage we produce? Unlike years past, however, disposal options are now fewer and more costly. This has resulted in a shift in focus away from solutions that simply try to deal with the output of the disposal process—the trash—to those that focus on inputs—reducing the volume of materials going into the waste stream. Among the volume reduction strategies are recycling, which focuses on specific input materials, and volume-based …

Understanding The Landscape Of Overruns In Transport Infrastructure Projects, Peter Love, Jim Smith, Ian Simpson, Michael Regan, Oluwole Olatunji

Michael Regan

Cost and schedule overruns are endemic features of transport infrastructure projects. Despite the considerable amount of research within the field of transport and planning in the past thirty years, limited progress has been made to improving the performance of projects. We contend that this will continue to be an issue as long as research efforts focus on the ‘outside view’ with emphasis being placed upon strategic misrepresentation and optimism bias. Understanding ‘why’ and ‘how’ projects overrun, particularly from both ‘outside’ and ‘inside’ perspectives, is pivotal to reducing their impact and occurrence. Thus, in conjunction with the transport and planning literature, …

Review Of Performance Measurement: Implications For Public–Private Partnerships, Junxiao Liu, Peter Love, Jim Smith, Michael Regan, Ekambaram Palaneeswaran

Michael Regan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the normative literature in regard to public-private partnerships (PPPs) and their evaluations, and attempts to investigate whether the Performance Prism is a feasible framework for effective PPP performance measurement. Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth and critical literature review is conducted in this study. Discussion concentrates on PPP features, performance measurement in PPPs, performance measurement in construction, and characteristics of the Performance Prism. Findings – The Performance Prism exhibits a strong ability to capture the distinct features of PPP infrastructure projects and can be considered as a framework suitable for effective and …

Government Institutions And Infrastructure Skills Development, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

The capacity of state institutions is central to the efficient delivery and management of infrastructure. The paper examines two models for improving the skills of managers in central and line agencies of government for infrastructure procurement and management in emerging economies. The first examines the role of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) unit, a specialist agency equipped with the technical capabilities, transactional experience and budget to provide training and assistance to line agencies for the effective delivery of infrastructure projects. Integrated into this model, and used by several nations, is the use of trained relationship managers to manage service contracts …

Public-Private Partnerships: A Review Of Theory And Practice Of Performance, Junxiao Liu, Peter Love, Jim Smith, Michael Regan, Monty Sutrisna

Michael Regan

Purpose – This paper reviews the normative literature of performance measurement within the context of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of current ex post evaluations of PPPs and identify a feasible direction to comprehensively and effectively measure the performance of PPP infrastructure projects.

Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth literature review is conducted in this paper. The focus of the review is associated with the general performance measurement and performance measurements of PPPs.

Findings – This paper identifies that conventional ex post evaluation is not robust enough to measure the performance of PPP projects. …

Assessing Risk In Infrastructure Public Private Partnerships, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

Public private partnerships are a method for the delivery of social and economic infrastructure services in over 80 countries worldwide. PPPs are a contractual arrangement between public and private entities through which the skills, assets and/or financial resources of both sectors are allocated in such a manner that provides optimal service delivery and good value to society. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life-cycle, a rigorous …

Ex-Ante Evaluation Of Public-Private Partnerships: Macroeconomic Analysis, Junxiao Liu, Peter Love, Brad Carey, Jim Smith, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are currently a popular approach for governments to procure social and economic infrastructure. The macroeconomic environment plays a critical role and influences the factors that can lead to the successful delivery of a PPP project. Despite the importance of the macroeconomic environment, limited attention has been paid to ex-ante (that is, before the event, or forecast) evaluation. A review of the normative literature was undertaken, aiming to derive key performance indicators (KPIs) of PPP success. The KPIs were validated by using a vector error correction model. It is suggested that the developed KPIs can be used to …

Value For Money In International Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Policies: Survey Of African States, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

The international evidence suggests that public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, as well as an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life cycle, a rigorous and competitive bid process, and the selection of proposals that deliver value for money. Value for money is a measure that takes into account …

Life Cycle Critical Success Factors For Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Projects, Junxiao Liu, Peter Love, Jim Smith, Michael Regan, Peter Davis

Michael Regan

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been widely used in the procurement of economic and social infrastructure projects. Since the operation of more and more PPP projects, there have been a number of explorations on the factors that contribute to their success. Project success is often expressed by the quality of the product and project management success. Bearing in mind these perspectives, the critical success factors (CSFs) of PPP infrastructure projects under the auspices of the project management success perspective are identified and examined. A life-cycle CSF framework with embedded “learning mechanisms” is developed. The proposed framework will enable public and private …

Conceptual Framework For The Performance Measurement Of Public-Private Partnerships, Junxiao Liu, Peter Love, Peter Davis, Jim Smith, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been used widely to deliver economic and social infrastructure projects. There has been widespread debate about the factors that contribute to their success and failure. Critical to their successful implementation is effective performance measurement of the projects. With this in mind, a comprehensive review of the normative literature in association with PPPs (e.g., critical success factors, roles of public sector, concessionaire selection, risk management, cost and time issues, and finance) is undertaken and a conceptual framework for dynamic life-cycle is proposed. The paper provides both public sector and private entities with an insight into effective and …

Value For Money In International Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Policies: Survey Of African States, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Jim Smith

The international evidence suggests that public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, as well as an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life cycle, a rigorous and competitive bid process, and the selection of proposals that deliver value for money. Value for money is a measure that takes into account …

Project Finance: Transactional Evidence From Australia (Revised Version 2013), Michael Regan

Michael Regan

The international project finance market is experiencing a period of significant change. The new Basel III capital adequacy rules will make it harder for banks to provide long-term project finance, and alternative sources of finance such as the shadow banking sector, fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors will take time to bridge the financing gap. In the meantime, it is difficult to source project finance for tenors beyond seven years, risk premiums are higher, and finance is difficult to source. Recent innovations in the form of the European Investment Bank’s Project Bond Initiative, and the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund …

Infrastructure Financing Modalities In The Asia Pacific: Strengths And Weaknesses, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Scope of the Presentation: 1. A review of 10 methods presently used to finance infrastructure investment in the Asia Pacific 2. Identify respective strengths and weaknesses 3. Describe trends in recent investment performance and specifically, the continued development of the PPP procurement option 4. List of reference sources used in this presentation.

Value For Money In Project Procurement, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract: Public private partnerships are a method for the delivery of social and economic infrastructure services in over 80 countries worldwide. PPPs are a contractual arrangement between public and private entities through which the skills, assets and/or financial resources of both sectors are allocated in such a manner that provides optimal service delivery and good value to society. The international evidence suggests that public private partnership procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods.

Understanding Risk And Uncertainty: A Brief History, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract: Risk is an explanation for human activity that doesn’t go to plan, i.e. the undertaking achieves an outcome at variance to expectation. The risks that we encounter today are similar in form and substance to those that faced our ancestors over the past 5,500 years. What has changed over that time is the greater complexity of systems today, which amplify the likelihood, and the magnitude of unexpected outcomes in all forms of human activity. For example, we load our economic and social infrastructure, our services, our supply chains and our commercial networks to breaking point. London’s public infrastructure, including …

Public Actors In Private Markets: Toward A Developmental Finance State, Robert Hockett, Saule Omarova

Saule T. Omarova

The recent financial crisis brought into sharp relief fundamental questions about the social function and purpose of the financial system, including its relation to the “real” economy. This Article argues that, to answer these questions, we must recapture a distinctively American view of the proper relations among state, financial market, and development. This programmatic vision – captured in what we call a “developmental finance state” – is based on three key propositions: (1) that economic and social development is not an “end-state” but a continuing national policy priority; (2) that the modalities of finance are the most potent means of …

Asean Public Private Partnership Guidelines, Fauziah Zen, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

The ASEAN PPP Guidelines are designed for ASEAN nations and provide a common set of policy principles for member countries. The Guidelines offer a broad framework based on best practice standards that will help government departments to manage the processes and procedures that need to be taken when implementing PPP projects. In this respect, common policy principles provide consistency, confidence and certainty to foreign private investors and help facilitate cross-border PPP projects and enhance greater connectivity through harmonisation of member’s regulatory requirements. ASEAN nations will already have in place PPP laws and policies, and many international agencies provide financial assistance …

Financing Asean Connectivity, Fauziah Zen, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

In line with the globalisation trend, it becomes inevitable for the South East Asian economies to prepare themselves to move towards the path of a more border-less and well-connected world. Evidence has shown that countries can gain a lot from internationalisation, especially from trade, knowledge and information exchanges, and flows of people and goods. One of the key targets of ASEAN in achieving a dynamic, vibrant, globally connected and strong region is to fully realise ASEAN Connectivity which consists of three pillars, namely, physical connectivity, people-to-people connectivity, and institutional connectivity. Physical connectivity is especially important because it is not only …

Managing Private Vehicles In Asian Cities, S Y Phang

PHANG Sock Yong

No abstract provided.

Using The Morphogenetic Model To Examine Broadband Adoption: A Critical Realist Argument, Paul Jackson, Philip Dobson, Denise Gengatharen

Denise E Gengatharen

In this paper we use Archer’s morphogenetic model (Archer, 1995) to help explain community attitudes and expectations of adoption of broadband in rural communities in Australia. Broadband infrastructure is currently being implemented throughout Australia as part of a government backed National Broadband Network (NBN). Attitudes to this “nation building project” are deeply divided along political, ideological and demographic lines: some see it as transformational, others as a white elephant. Some anticipate great benefits, others would not bother to subscribe. Given this situation and the ambivalent results in other countries with similar programs, we propose to use critical realism as a …

Your Friends And Neighbors: Localized Economic Development And Criminal Activity, Matthew Freedman, Emily Owens

Matthew Freedman

We exploit a sudden shock to demand for a subset of low-wage workers generated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program in San Antonio, Texas to identify the effects of localized economic development on crime. We use a difference-in-difference methodology that takes advantage of variation in BRAC’s impact over time and across neighborhoods. We find that appropriative criminal behavior increases in neighborhoods where a fraction of residents experienced increases in earnings. This effect is driven by residents who were unlikely to be BRAC beneficiaries, implying that criminal opportunities are important in explaining patterns of crime.

Forthcoming in the …

Improving Energy Benchmarking With Self-Reported Data, David Hsu

David Hsu

Energy benchmarking for buildings has become increasingly important in government policy and industry practice for energy efficiency. The questions of how energy benchmarking is currently conducted, and how it might be improved using rapidly growing quantities of self-reported data, are examined. A case study of commercial office buildings in New York City demonstrates how the rapid growth in self-reported data presents both new opportunities and challenges for energy benchmarking for buildings. A critique is presented for the scoring methodology and data sources for Energy Star, one of the largest and most successful benchmarking certification schemes. Findings from recent studies are …

Results Of 2013 Greenbelt User Survey, Jaap Vos

Jacobus J. "Jaap" Vos

The Greenbelt survey was administered at four different locations on the greenbelt on Tuesday, September 17, and Saturday, September 21, 2013. There were a little over 1000 usable surveys and we also received detailed information about the amount of people on the Greenbelt from a traffic count that was performed by the Ada County Highway District (ACHD). The general results are very similar from last year. Users are unanimously happy about the Greenbelt and see the Greenbelt as an important asset for the community. People feel safe and almost 75 percent of the people that were surveyed use the Greenbelt …

Tablero De Control Para La Gestión Por Objetivos Y Resultados En La Provincia De Buenos Aires: Anteproyecto Para El Organismo De Control Del Agua De Buenos Aires (Ocaba), Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

El Organismo De Control Del Agua De Buenos Aires: Funcionamiento Y Organización Territorial En Perspectiva De La Regionalización Bonaerense, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Alfonso Roberto González

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa