The Power of Public Investment Management

Public resources―if invested well in public infrastructure and services―can catalyze private and community e orts and unleash an inclusive growth and development process. But too often public projects are selectedto support political patronage, poorly designed, underfunded, long delayed, very costly, or badly implemented, with little bene t to the population. This is a critical challenge for many countries, both rich and poor. This book identi es eight key institutional features that countries need to adopt to ensure that public investments support growth and development. The Power of Public Investment Management provides a clear, nontechnical discussion on approaches to improving project appraisal, disciplining political intervention in project selection, dealing with uncertainty (an issue that is likely to grow in importance with the e ects of climate change), integrating procurement skills into project design and implementation, and managing the decision on public-private partnerships. Byproviding a simple but comprehensive framework and global experience, the book provides policy makers the guidance to adopt good functional principles in the design of institutions to strengthen public investment management.

This timely book addresses a dilemma that has vexed the development community for decades: infrastructure investment is essential for socioeconomic progress, but many investments are wasteful andsome even retarddevelopment. The practical framework proposed by the book can be applied both to advanced and low-income countries,as well as to investments directly managed by government and those implemented through public-private partnerships. --Allen Schick, Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland andfounding editor of the journal, Public Budgeting and Finance.

Government efficiency in managing public investment is very important for sustained growth BUT this presumes (a) Good investment choices are made first and (b) projects are completed and maintained cost-effectively. This book offers many of the answers to help countries, both rich and developing, to get thisright. --Maria Kiwanuka, Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Government of Uganda. ISBN