Budgeting for Public Capital

Abstract

City governments provide much of the economic and social capital comprising urban infrastructure. A prevailing idea is that public managers should and can budget rationally and systematically for the provision of infrastructure. This view frequently neglects consideration of the reactive, ad hoc nature of infrastructure investment in cities. Common approaches to the notion of rational capital budgeting are discussed and a reinterpretation of how city governments supply infrastructure is presented.

Measuring Efficiency and Effectiveness of Highway Management in Sustainability

“…So far, previous literature on infrastructure investment in the field of public affairs can be classified into two groups. One group deals with early studies that are about the normative approach of how to manage or improve capital assets [2][3][4]. For example, Millar [3] criticized that prior literature on capital budgeting is not useful for local governments to set capital project priorities.…”