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Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as a strategic tool for enhancing the economic growth of International Airport infrastructure and service delivery markets in Cyprus. Although different types of PPPs exist worldwide and are likely to influence how road projects are implemented, this has not been fully researched in Cyprus. This study investigates how various aspects of PPPs can influence the implementation of International Airport infrastructure development in the Republic of Cyprus. It combined qualitative and quantitative approaches using a cross-sectional design. Secondary data was complimented with primary data collected from 63 purposively sampled respondents. The study established that PPP international airport projects in Cyprus have particularly utilised the Build, operate, transfer (BOT) model. As the existing publicly owned airports were not considered to be financially viable or sustainable at the beginning of the century, it became evident that these government functions could not be socio-economically or otherwise justified. For this reason, the involvement of the private sector in the operation of publicly owned and administered airports was fully endorsed by both the government and the local society at large. The form of private participation to be selected rightly depended on the risk/decision making power that the government apparatus was prepared to transfer to the private sector and the financial viability of the airport as a sustainable business. To have defensible, sustainable, and resilient Airport BOT Projects in Cyprus, the regulatory model of frameworks should be changed into a community model to develop sustainable projects, as opposed to the market or statist model that favours or prioritise private partners and government interests respectively. Though it may seem difficult to create a line of responsibility, it is possible to set an established way to collaborate and cooperate on particular BOT contract projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value for money poses the question, "What is good resource use?" It is often answered with a narrow economic analysis that does not adequately address what diverse people value. We suggest new principles and methods that may help evaluators answer the question better. First, we define value for money, which sits at the intersection of evaluation and economics. Next, we make the case for a holistic assessment of value for money that evaluators can conduct with tools they already have, like rubrics. We introduce three principles that further align value for money with evaluation: value depends on the credibility of estimates; things do not have value, people place value on things; and people value the same things differently. Together, they suggest evaluators should arrive at multiple, possibly conflicting conclusions that represent diverse value perspectives. We demonstrate how this may be done using a value-for-money rubric to improve resource allocation for impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the patronage of street food vendor in Nigeria. The data for this study was collected from 385 street food customers in northwest Nigeria, and was analyzed using multiple regression. Also, composite reliability and Average Variance Extracted were used to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. The finding shows that patronage of street food vendor is taken as a function of quality food, value for money and familiarity of the food contents. Since the industry is one of the sources of employment generation, understanding what makes people patronize them can be a contribution to the development of the literature and an important step in designing a more effective policy mechanism for economic growth. Informal sectors are under researched and most researchers delved more on formal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastronomy is considered a vital resource and is a key component of a memorable tourism experience. Some studies have explored memorable gastronomic experience (MGE) but have been unable to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. The purpose of this research is to advance knowledge in relation to MGE. The Q-methodology of research synthesis (QMRS) was applied to identify MGE dimensions and support qualitative and quantitative approaches within the research process. The findings of the study contribute to a greater understanding of MGE by providing a conceptual model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security at airports represents a major risk exposure. Poorly paid and underappreciated staff are tasked with controlling critical access points to ground and airside facilities. This paper describes a review of security services at a major North American airport, based on interviews conducted with management and personnel of a contracted service provider. It also evaluates service quality, contract compliance and the business processes involved in the delivery of those services. The review identified significant problems with staff turnover, training and performance; all factors that could lead to compromised security. It also examined the value received for money spent on delivering security services, considering their: (i) economy; (ii) efficiency and (iii) effectiveness. While this review was confined to a single airport, it is expected that the methodology adopted, as well as the problems noted, will apply to other aviation facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at investigating the cost-effectiveness of developing a new type of house, the floating house, as a solution to land scarcity in metropolitan coastal cities. Under value management framework, the "function analysis system technique" diagram was established to identify the functions of land-based and floating houses. Participants with different backgrounds shared their views through the two designed questionnaires, assisting in determining the cost allocation and functional performance levels of the houses. Fuzzy set theory was utilized to convert the collected professional knowledge and public opinions into numerical measurements. The obtained function values disclosed that, despite weaknesses in the conventional living and structural issues, the floating house still shows competitiveness and opportunities in customer attraction, environmental sustainability, and encouraging local tourism. This paper offers the evidence and reference to both practitioners and governments seeking for a better value of the money they invest in future floating house projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research for development (R4D) funding is increasingly expected to demonstrate value for money (VfM). However, the dominance of positivist approaches to evaluating VfM, such as cost-benefit analysis, do not fully account for the complexity of R4D funds and risk undermining efforts to contribute to transformational development. This paper posits an alternative approach to evaluating VfM, using the UK's Global Challenges Research Fund and the Newton Fund as case studies. Based on a constructivist approach to valuing outcomes, this approach applies a collaboratively developed rubric-based peer review to a sample of projects. This is more appropriate for the complexity of R4D interventions, particularly when considering uncertain and emergent outcomes over a long timeframe. This approach could be adapted to other complex interventions, demonstrating that our options are not merely "CBA or the highway" and there are indeed alternative routes to evaluating VfM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical interrogation of government-led reform of higher education (HE) in England. Its focus is marketisation, and in particular, the concepts of 'value for money' (VFM), teaching excellence, and students as educational consumers. Hitherto, research on VFM in HE has been largely quantitative in nature and primarily focussed on student perceptions. This qualitative research study contributes to existing knowledge, by comparing the perceptions of students and university lecturers in the social sciences. Undertaken at a Northern university between 2017 and 2019, it highlights key concerns around changing student expectations, managerialism and the potential instrumentalisation of learning and teaching. The issues explored here lend themselves to a broader based study across different types of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and different cognate areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Occupational therapists recommending home modifications in Australia are often required by funding bodies to consider 'value' and 'value for money' (VFM); however, clear guidance on how to define and apply these concepts is not always provided. This paper reports on a qualitative study examining how the concepts of value and VFM are currently understood and operationalised by occupational therapists in Australian home modification practice, with the aim of positively contributing to both policy and practice in this area. Methods: The study utilised constructivist grounded theory to collect and analyse qualitative data from 20 occupational therapists who were currently working across Australia and had professional experience in home modifications. Findings: The grounded theory that was derived from the analysis highlights the unique position that occupational therapists occupy in home modification work as they strive to align the values of different stakeholders to create solutions that all consider to be valuable. In the absence of consistent frameworks or methods for determining value and VFM, evidence also emerged of occupational therapists using a range of individual approaches such as using formal and informal care as metrics, cheapest option approaches, and comparative costing. Conclusion: In addition to a clear need for consistent and transparent approaches to understanding and operationalising VFM in home modifications, there is also a need for further investigation into the value systems that underpin this work. A conceptualisation of occupational therapists as street‐level policy agents has proven useful here as it highlights the position occupational therapists occupy, enacting, making, and, at times, challenging policy in day‐to‐day practice as they work to align the values of the various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the relationships customer centric measures in wine tasting rooms. Furthermore, moderating role of customer satisfaction in value for money and repurchase intent relationship was examined.The data were collected in wineries in British Columbia, Canada. Analysis was conducted using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). In order to test the moderating role of satisfaction, the respondents were divided into two groups of unsatisfied and satisfied customers. The multi-group analysis of PLS-SEM was used to detect possible heterogeneity.The findings show that there is a significant relationship between value for money and repurchase intent. A significant relationship between value for money and repurchase intent was also detected, when satisfaction as a dichotomous variable was present in the model. A moderating role of satisfaction was discovered, where the strength of the relationship between value for money and repurchase intent appeared to decrease with higher levels of satisfaction.This study provides an overview in the triangle relationships between value for money, customer satisfaction and repurchase intent, and how the dichotomous satisfaction construct moderates the value for money and repurchase intent relationship. Surprisingly, the moderating impact was found to be negative and at the same time significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The fiscal efficiency of waste treatment PPP was studied. • The impact of demand risk taking on the fiscal expenditure was discussed. • VfM and sensitivity analysis was performed by using Korean cases. • Cost structure and demand risk should be considered for fiscal efficiency of PPP. This study aimed to examine the government's cost efficiency considering the high-risk/high-return mechanism of PPP. Faced with increasing demand but with limited budget, the Korean government has relied on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to provide waste treatment services for the last couple of decades to expand fiscal space. However, most of waste treatment facilities projects have been promoted using the BTO (Build-Transfer-Operate) method with high rate of return due to the demand risk that is transferred to the private. We performed a conversion analysis of a BTO to a BTL (Build-Transfer-Lease) method, in which demand risk is borne by the government, for 18 PPP waste treatment cases with actual operation records. The result of comparing the life-cycle costs of government in employing each project method shows that the BTL can provide 5.26% of Value for Money (VfM) compared to the BTO as the government takes the demand risk and lowers the required rate of return of the private. This implies that transferring the demand risk to the private sector may not always be the best option for the government. From the government's perspective, instead of transferring the demand risk to the private and providing a high rate of return, the government can retain the demand risk and reduce the rate of return, and it can be fiscally more advantageous considering the cost structure of each PPP method. Through Korean PPP waste treatment cases, this study suggests that policy makers who implement PPP should consider the government's strategic risk sharing by understanding the predictability of demand and the nature of cost structure of each PPP method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries are increasingly using Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver infrastructure projects and there are a number of reasons why governments around the globe utilise PPPs in delivering infrastructure projects amongst which is the financial benefits of the project. In PPP projects, it is necessary for the host government to carry out an analysis to show that the proposed project is a viable venture. It has been argued by various practitioners and academics that the critical question from the government's viewpoint is whether the project demonstrates good Value for Money (VfM) sometimes also called Value for Investment (VfI). This article examines the concept of VfM, PPPs as distinguished from traditional procurement. It also expatiates on the use and focus of VfM assessment in the PPP decision-making process and puts the VfM analysis into a broader, context by expanding its subsets which is a mix of both quantitative and qualitative analysis and the tools used in assessing if an infrastructure project demonstrates VfM, this paper also looks at the different criticisms, constraints and limitations submitted by different academics, institutions and practitioners on why VfM should not be the only factor to be contemplated in determining if PPP is the best option for delivering infrastructure projects or if the project should be skewed towards traditional infrastructure procurement. The article proffers key recommendations which can guide government institutions, agencies, and industrial sectors in using and improving the VfM analysis. The concluding section answers if VfM should be the sole criteria in reaching the determination of skewing projects towards PPP or Traditional Procurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Browne Review 2010 was a paradigm shift for higher education funding in England, this paper reflects upon the aftermath faced by university leaders through intensified marketisation. A secondary data analysis was undertaken on previous interview transcripts conducted in 2011 of 30 senior managers from a range of English universities. The purpose was to reflect upon the impact of the Browne Review through a current lens in 2021 to establish if the original dilemmas still exist. Senior managers were initially confronted by an identity dilemma of either being a business or an educational institution, it found that this has increasingly become more complex. The reflective analysis concludes a decisive shift in mindset that English universities now behave similarly to Corporate Businesses in an increasingly uncertain and competitive, but restricted market. Consequently, increased consumerist tendencies of students have increased the gap between universities and students’ differing perceptions of value for money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the accelerated urbanization progress, the governmental financial funds fail to satisfy the needs of highway project construction in some areas. The building-transfer (BT) model and public-private partnership (PPP) model have been carried out in succession in China to solve the shortage of financial funds. However, the emotion analysis method in Guide of Value for Money Evaluation for PPP Project (trial) enacted by the Ministry of Finance is of great subjectivity when applied to the calculation of risk quantification, which is the key to quantitative evaluation, so it is in urgent need of perfection through scientific methods to promote the implementation of PPP projects. On this basis, under the research background of conversion of a highway stock project from BT model to PPP model in city Z, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (HAHP) and set-valued statistics method were applied to the method improvement for the risk quantification part of value for money (VFM) evaluation cases in this project. The results show that the VFM (calculated based on the improved risk quantification method) of the BT-to-PPP model for the highway stock project in city Z is elevated from the original 248,240,000 RMB to 271,643,500 RMB. The conclusions can provide a certain reference basis for further improving China’s VFM evaluation system, and boosting the development of PPP model in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article concerns Public Private Partnerships and the value for money principle. The article presents an analysis of the British value for money principle, the lack of similar principle in the EU public procurement law and the importance of value for money in regard to Public Private Partnerships. This article does not question the key principles of transparency, equal treatment, proportionality, non-discrimination, and competition but discusses the value for money as a relevant legal instrument in regard to Public Private Partnerships in EU public procurement law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) became an important part of public service delivery in Turkey as many of the infrastructures are built via PPP models, even though there is a lack of harmonised and unified PPP legislation. State support is given to project companies in order to reduce the assumed risks and consequently ensure the value for money in PPPs. Even though state supports are expected to be a balancing mechanism so as to realize value for money in the projects, state support is given and paid to project companies so far in Turkey shows that they are used in order to attract the private sector into PPP projects rather than ensuring value for money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Global health priority setting increasingly focuses on understanding the functioning of health systems and on how they can be strengthened. Beyond vertical programs, health systems research should examine system-wide delivery platforms (e.g. health facilities) and operational elements (e.g. supply chains) as primary units of study and evaluation.Methods: We use dynamical system methods to develop a simple analytical model for the supply chain of a low-income country's health system. In doing so, we emphasize the dynamic links that integrate the supply chain within other elements of the health system; and we examine how the evolution over time of such connections would affect drug delivery, following the implementation of selected interventions (e.g. enhancing road networks, expanding workforce). We also test feedback loops and forecasts to study the potential impact of setting up a digital system for tracking drug delivery to prevent drug stockout and expiration.Results: Numerical simulations that capture a range of supply chain scenarios demonstrate the impact of different health system strengthening interventions on drug stock levels within health facilities. Our mathematical modeling also points to how implementing a digital drug tracking system could help anticipate and prevent drug stockout and expiration.Conclusion: Our mathematical model of drug supply chain delivery represents an important component toward the development of comprehensive quantitative frameworks that aim at describing health systems as complex dynamical systems. Such models can help predict how investments in system-wide interventions, like strengthening drug supply chains in low-income settings, may improve population health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of the research was students' perceptions of whether joint honours degrees represented a sound student learning experience and led to good academic and employability outcomes. In this minority mode of study for the United Kingdom, students study two academic subjects, rather than the more usual single subject. The qualitative methodology followed was a thematic analysis of self-administered questionnaire data, collected from joint honours students at four English universities in the United Kingdom. The principal results were that the students experienced difficulties in fitting into the two communities of learning for their respective subjects; in being adequately supported; in disparities in teaching, learning and assessment between their two subjects, and in a high workload. The major conclusion was that although the students perceived their learning experiences to have value by virtue of having studied two subjects, a number of issues stymied their achieving the best learning experience possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to examine the effect of accountability, transparency, and supervision onbudget performance of the Value for Money concept. The research was conducted on 43 local work units in Special Capital Region (DKI) Jakarta Province. The sample of the research consists of 86 government officials using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis to test the hypothesis. The result of this research-proven that accountability and supervision have significantly affected the on-budget performance of the Value for Money concept, while transparency showed no effect on the effectiveness on-budget performance of the same concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the epidemic situation, materials are in short supply, but traditional procurement cannot meet the needs of emergency speed. This article compares and analyses the regular Chinese procurement methods with the US and EU emergency procurement methods, so as to obtain the methods suitable for China's emergency situation, and calls for emergency procurement legislation. At the same time, this article discusses the scope and principles of emergency procurement, emphasising that emergency procurement should not be abused and still follow the principle of value for money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing interest in the performance of public services by citizens and public authorities force public service organizations to seek justification in the use of public resources. The public also require reassurance that public services provide value for money. This reflects the need for a comprehensive measurement and assessment of performance in the utilities sector. The selection of appropriate performance indicators is a key process in managing and monitoring the performance. However, this requires the participation of those organizations which this measurement concerns. The aim of the study is to present a proposal of possible performance indicators in public grammar schools in Slovak Republic based on the Value For Money concept. This study uses a positive approach and is based mainly on the original survey data from own research. The analysis is conducted by using Delphi method. The outcome of the study, in the form of a proposal for possible performance indicators, is enriched by feedback from education professionals and school heads. The proposal of possible performance indicators can be an initial outline of appropriate performance indicators for the model for measuring and assessing the performance of public grammar schools in the future. It can also be an inspiration for other public service organizations in how to set appropriate performance indicators in relation to their objectives. The total number of performance indicators that will enter into the construction of the model of measuring and evaluating the performance of public grammar schools is 25 indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measures that economise education are typically accompanied by discourses that prime society for change by framing the policy in individualistic and consumeristic terms. This article explores the emergence of 'value for money' (VfM) discourses in the English higher education sector. Using Bourdieu's thinking tools, we explore how VfM is conceptualised by final year undergraduates paying different levels of 'headline' tuition fees at a Russell Group and a Post-92 university. Unsurprisingly, we find qualitative evidence of an increase in VfM negativity as fees rise. However, this does not distribute evenly across different groups of students. At both institutions, undergraduates approach VfM in complex and unexpected ways, drawing on different capitals and often pushing back against dominant discourses. A key finding is that many students report high levels of satisfaction with their institution, course and teaching, while simultaneously expressing VfM negativity because they feel tuition fees are too high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many treatments developed for rare diseases will have an Orphan Medicinal Product (OMP) designation, indicating that they are likely to deliver benefit in an area of high unmet need. Their approval may be based on a small or uncontrolled trial, as randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of sufficient size are often difficult to conduct, or repeat, as a result of the rarity of the condition, sparsity of patients, or for ethical reasons. Furthermore, many products are given a conditional marketing authorisation, requiring additional evidence to be collected after product launch. This is even more challenging with the advent of advanced therapeutic medicinal products, which use novel scientific approaches like gene or somatic cell therapy.Issue: Given the high unmet need associated with these products, there is pressure for Health Technology Assessment (HTA)/reimbursement bodies to enable rapid access to effective treatments. However, there is often only limited evidence available for assessment.Methods: TRUST4RD proposes an approach to identify uncertainties of most concern for decision-makers by developing an iterative and informed dialogue amongst stakeholders (including manufacturers, clinicians, patients, regulatory- and HTA agencies and payers), so that potential approaches to resolution can be discussed. As evidence is generated, uncertainties are reviewed and prioritised, and evidence-generation plans revised or clarified accordingly. The aim is to develop - both pre- and post HTA submission - a better understanding of evidence requirements versus evidence-generation trade-offs as an evidence base grows and the potential value of a product becomes clearer.Conclusion: TRUST4RD presents guidance on defining uncertainties and evidence gaps in the assessment of value and value for money of specialised treatments for rare diseases. It also provides guidance on the potential of Real World Evidence (RWE) to help address such uncertainties, including the typology of evidence uncertainties, the importance of different uncertainties and the data sources available to address them before and after HTA submission. In making use of the guidance, authorisation and reimbursement discussions on such treatments can be embedded in an evidence-rich context, thereby ensuring value to all parties, particularly to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development consulting companies are pivotal actors in bilateral projects, yet they are largely invisible in policy documents, and little researched. Their business model is a combination of 'doing good' and profit. This article examines the history, business logics and working relationships of consulting companies in development cooperation, taking the case of Finland. It asks 'Why are consultancy companies needed in development cooperation?' Their relationship with donors appears to represent a principal–agent relationship, yet they often share the donor's ethos, and even exchange staff. The dramatic decrease in technical assistance budgets over recent years, along with increasing bureaucracy, has caused profits to diminish and many companies have disappeared, taking institutional memory with them. However, if the donors wish to assert some policy guidance and have contact with work on the ground in developing countries, there is a need for technical assistance via consulting companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost‐effectiveness analysis is increasingly relevant in humanitarian action. The cost of response has increased exponentially in the past decade, alongside concurrent donor budget restrictions. However, there remains limited comprehension and application of these methods in this field. This paper documents methods developed for use within Action Against Hunger, an international humanitarian organisation, in response to a lack of understanding of this topic within the humanitarian community and limited evidence of the cost‐effectiveness of humanitarian action. These methods encompass costs to both implementing institutions and participating communities. Activity‐based cost analyses are conducted to assess resources per programme activity. Cost‐effectiveness is evaluated using successful programme outcomes, and uncertainty is appraised via sensitivity analysis. This paper aims to advance knowledge, stimulate discussion, and promote the adoption of cost‐effectiveness methods for building the evidence base for humanitarian action, including consideration of community costs, to enable analytical outputs that are useful for managers and policymakers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines major café experience attributes and their impacts on customers' attitudinal and behavioural outcomes in the New Zealand café industry. Based on an extended model of the consumption system approach, a set of hypotheses were developed and tested using hierarchical multiple regression. Using a sample of 205 respondents, the study found that service quality is the strongest predictor of all outcome variables (i.e., value for money, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty intentions) which were predicted by either tangible or intangible café experience attributes. Both practical and theoretical implications of the findings are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the use of cost-consequence analysis (CCA), a recent evaluation of a Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Ghana revealed it to have represented poor value for money (VFM), with comparator projects elsewhere seeming to deliver similar results at less than half the cost. However, complex integrated development programmes (IDPs) such as the MVP pose serious challenges for VFM assessments. IDPs target system-wide changes in resource-scarce contexts, making expensive foundational investments in infrastructure and other systems. The unit costs of benefits will tend to be high in the short or medium term. In contrast, many standalone projects, showing greater efficiency, may target similar outcomes, but do so by building upon existing prior investments. In this article, comparing three VFM approaches, we argue that CCA is the most appropriate for IDPs. However, its applications must be mindful of the contextual differences in which the comparator standalone projects and the IDP were implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Differences in payer evaluation and coverage of pharmaceuticals and medical procedures suggest that coverage may differ for medications and procedures independent of their clinical benefit. We hypothesized that coverage for medications is more restricted than corresponding coverage for nonmedication interventions.Methods: We included top-selling medications and highly utilized procedures. For each intervention-indication pair, we classified value in terms of cost-effectiveness (incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year), as reported by the Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry. For each intervention-indication pair and for each of 10 large payers, we classified coverage, when available, as either "more restrictive" or as "not more restrictive," compared with a benchmark. The benchmark reflected the US Food and Drug Administration label information, when available, or pertinent clinical guidelines. We compared coverage policies and the benchmark in terms of step edits and clinical restrictions. Finally, we regressed coverage restrictiveness against intervention type (medication or nonmedication), controlling for value (cost-effectiveness more or less favorable than a designated threshold).Results: We identified 392 medication and 185 procedure coverage decisions. A total of 26.3% of the medication coverage and 38.4% of the procedure coverage decisions were more restrictive than their corresponding benchmarks. After controlling for value, the odds of being more restrictive were 42% lower for medications than for procedures. Including unfavorable tier placement in the definition of "more restrictive" greatly increased the proportion of medication coverage decisions classified as "more restrictive" and reversed our findings.Conclusions: Therapy access depends on factors other than cost and clinical benefit, suggesting potential health care system inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the theoretical background and concepts providing the basis for the use of forms of financing and acquisition of public goods and services through partnerships between the public and the private sectors (public- private partnership - PPP). The aim of this article is to introduce a new original methodology using a selection of qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating investments and to form a complex output that will clearly and distinctly testify about the appropriateness of using the PPP method. For this purpose, processes which are normally used for business valuation - generators of values, property valuation, yield valuation, valuation based on market analysis, are combined and incorporated/recast in the current assessment methodology, which is based on the Public Sector Comparator and determinants of value for money (VFM), are being used. Although this new methodology was developed in response to the problematic situation regarding PPP projects' evaluation particularly in the Czech Republic, it can also be applied in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The European Commission has begun to measure procurement performance in countries belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA). Performance is understood in terms of practices designed to maximize value for money. The purpose of this paper is to report on the performance measurement system currently in use and what the European Commission's own data tell us about contemporary procurement practices in EEA countries. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary data released by the European Commission is used to examine procurement performance across 30 EEA countries. Findings: The best performing countries are from Scandinavia and the Benelux, along with Ireland, UK and Malta. Average performing countries include France and Germany. Below average performers include Italy, Spain and the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Originality/value: The paper highlights significant performance gaps in public procurement between EEA countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the availability of information that allows society to know the management practices of public resources made available to the Social Organizations (OS) of education in the case of Impa. The research is theoretical empirical, qualitative, case study regarding the research strategy, wich the empirical object is the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (Impa) and the data were collected through the information disclosed in the institute's portal. The results showed that all the requirements asked to Impa seems according MCTI demands and those expressed in the Master Plan and in the Management Contracts regarding the transparency and easy access of the information to the citizen in the institutional portal. It is concluded that there is transparency and easy access to information regarding the level of performance of Impa's activities, limited to disclosing only the mandatory information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the development of knowledge on transferring the concept of customer-based brand equity to a tourism destination context. Keller’s brand equity pyramid is utilized as the comparison framework to reveal similarities, but also overlaps, differences and gaps on both the conceptual and measurement level of existing brand equity models for destinations. Particularly, the inner core of the model depicts the complex mechanisms of how destination resources transform into benefits for tourists overlooked by prior research. This study proposes a customer-based brand equity model for destinations, which consists of five dependent constructs, including awareness, loyalty, and three destination brand promise constructs constituting the inner core of the model, namely, destination resources, value in use, and value for money. The model was repeatedly tested for the leading Swedish mountain destination Åre, by using a linear structural equation modeling approach. Findings confirm the path structure of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New carriers and business models have dramatically transformed the aviation industry. Using feedback ratings from 109 carriers and 36,710 passengers, this study first shows that emerging market airlines typically offer better value-for-money propositions than their established competitors. The study then relates perceived value for money with recommendation intention. The relationship is very strong without significant outliers; true loyalty shown by such customer advocates drives a service firm's profitability. Even the best entrenched airlines should not ignore this change in competitive climate, but respond by focusing on value for money as the standard for their business model's value proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Interest in quality is well established within higher education. This paper will critically review the most commonly used definitions of quality: fitness for purpose and value for money. It will point out that these two definitions are important but they ignore the emancipatory power of higher education and the development needs of academics and students. This paper will propose a new understanding of quality as a virtue of professional practice, which can be used as a useful force for individual academics and students to increase their commitment to learning and teaching. A new model of quality evaluation will be outlined as a supportive mechanism to enhance academics’ professionalism and to increase students’ capability to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Due to its recent adoption, little is known about the performance of public-private partnerships (PPP) and their determinants. The present study aims to investigate the behavior of PPP and their contractual variations in the provision of sports arenas for the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, using a comparative perspective on traditional public and private provision modes. The research adopts a qualitative approach with an exploratory perspective and multiple case studies. The results suggest that, for Brazilian public administration, PPP presented good value for money, especially in terms of the time schedule, costs, diversified revenues and bidding process as a result of incentive structures coming from PPP contracts and private partner flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its recent adoption, little is known about the performance of public-private partnerships (PPP) and their determinants. The present study aims to investigate the behavior of PPP and their contractual variations in the provision of sports arenas for the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, using a comparative perspective on traditional public and private provision modes. The research adopts a qualitative approach with an exploratory perspective and multiple case studies. The results suggest that, for Brazilian public administration, PPP presented good value for money, especially in terms of the time schedule, costs, diversified revenues and bidding process as a result of incentive structures coming from PPP contracts and private partner flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic generated additional data and triggered new studies that opened debate over the optimal strategy for handling a pandemic. The lessons-learned documents from the World Health Organization show the need for a cost estimation of the pandemic response during the risk-assessment phase. Several years after the crisis, what conclusions can we draw from this field of research?Objective: The main objective of this article was to provide an analysis of the studies that present cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses for A/H1N1 pandemic interventions since 2009 and to identify which measures seem most cost-effective.Methods: We reviewed 18 academic articles that provide cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses for A/H1N1 pandemic interventions since 2009. Our review converts the studies' results into a cost-utility measure (cost per disability-adjusted life-year or quality-adjusted life-year) and presents the contexts of severity and fatality.Results: The existing studies suggest that hospital quarantine, vaccination, and usage of the antiviral stockpile are highly cost-effective, even for mild pandemics. However, school closures, antiviral treatments, and social distancing may not qualify as efficient measures, for a virus like 2009's H1N1 and a willingness-to-pay threshold of $45,000 per disability-adjusted life-year. Such interventions may become cost-effective for severe crises.Conclusions: This study helps to shed light on the cost-utility of various interventions, and may support decision making, among other criteria, for future pandemics. Nonetheless, one should consider these results carefully, considering these may not apply to a specific crisis or country, and a dedicated cost-effectiveness assessment should be conducted at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments throughout the world are turning to public‒private partnerships (PPPs) as a means of providing new infrastructure. The decision to adopt a PPP over conventional government procurement is usually based on a value for money (VfM) appraisal, but this analysis is conducted differently in different countries. This article describes the correct way to conduct VfM analysis if the goal is to minimize the present value of the costs to the Treasury and if the goal is to maximize social welfare. It then compares the documented methodologies of nine specialist PPP units. It identifies four ways in which these methodologies depart from either of the correct approaches, and shows how each departure favors the PPP option. Finally, it shows how the UK approach might be augmented to determine the best value to society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising costs without perceived proportional improvements in quality and outcomes have motivated fundamental shifts in health care delivery and payment to achieve better value. Aligned with these efforts, several value assessment frameworks have been introduced recently to help providers, patients, and payers better understand the potential value of drugs and other interventions and make informed decisions about their use. Given their early stage of development, it is imperative to evaluate these efforts on an ongoing basis to identify how best to support and improve them moving forward. This article provides a multistakeholder perspective on the key limitations and opportunities posed by the current value assessment frameworks and areas of and actions for improvement. In particular, we outline 10 fundamental guiding principles and associated strategies that should be considered in subsequent iterations of the existing frameworks or by emerging initiatives in the future. Although value assessment frameworks may not be able to meet all the needs and preferences of stakeholders, we contend that there are common elements and potential next steps that can be supported to advance value assessment in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This study reviews the evaluation of capacity development, identifying capacity development (CD) modalities and the schools of evaluation currently in place. The research joins the results agenda debate, arguing that in dealing with CD interventions, pre-defined indicators fail to represent the process and the key elements that take CD recipients toward patterns of change. The study highlights the fact that CD deals with projects that, by their nature (consisting of change processes designed to initiate change in people, organizations, and/or their enabling environment), rely more on non-planned changes than on the pre-defined indicators and results to contribute to livelihood improvements and social transformation. The study recognizes the difficulty of evaluating CD under straightforward mechanisms. It concludes that the existing approaches are not adequate to truly capture or measure impact, as CD projects, restricted by previously agreed budgets, resources, and time frames, are usually not designed to evaluate the sustainability of change and its impact over the medium or long term. As resources are scarce, donor agencies and policy-makers need to know the value of CD in order to best prioritize their investments. However, due to the nature of these projects, measuring the return rate between the project cost and its impact remains a difficult task. There is a need for new, multi-path approaches to capturing changes in capacity in order to serve as a basis for decision-making regarding CD investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are an effective vehicle for delivering critical infrastructure worldwide, particularly road transport assets (e.g., bridges, toll roads and tunnels). However, PPPs have been and continue to be controversial forms of project delivery as there are concerns about their ability to provide taxpayers with value for money (V f M). Current practice to determine V f M focuses on a 'simplistic' ex-ante evaluation referred to as the Public Sector Comparator (PSC), aiming to take a life-cycle approach to cost and benefits assessment. However, the complexity of transport projects renders the PSC ineffective and static evaluation of cost and benefits across their life-cycle. Therefore, the PSC cannot accommodate a project's environment's dynamic and changing nature. Acknowledging the limitations of the PSC, we develop and examine a dynamic discrete choice model that can be used to provide a V f M assessment for 'road projects'. By validating the proposed model using two illustrative cases, the results suggest it can capture a more comprehensive assessment of cost components, functionality, and benefits specific to road projects and quantify the relationship between the consideration of different assessment elements and choice utility. Therefore, utilising the new model to assess V f M can enable policymakers to make more informed decisions about the employment of PPPs. • Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been adopted worldwide to deliver transport infrastructure. • Deciding whether to choose PPPs is a challenge for governments. • A Dynamic Discrete Choice model to determining value for money is proposed for road projects. • Implications for policymakers are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are an effective vehicle for delivering critical infrastructure worldwide, particularly road transport assets (e.g., bridges, toll roads and tunnels). However, PPPs have been and continue to be controversial forms of project delivery as there are concerns about their ability to provide taxpayers with value for money (V f M). Current practice to determine V f M focuses on a 'simplistic' ex-ante evaluation referred to as the Public Sector Comparator (PSC), aiming to take a life-cycle approach to cost and benefits assessment. However, the complexity of transport projects renders the PSC ineffective and static evaluation of cost and benefits across their life-cycle. Therefore, the PSC cannot accommodate a project's environment's dynamic and changing nature. Acknowledging the limitations of the PSC, we develop and examine a dynamic discrete choice model that can be used to provide a V f M assessment for 'road projects'. By validating the proposed model using two illustrative cases, the results suggest it can capture a more comprehensive assessment of cost components, functionality, and benefits specific to road projects and quantify the relationship between the consideration of different assessment elements and choice utility. Therefore, utilising the new model to assess V f M can enable policymakers to make more informed decisions about the employment of PPPs. • Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been adopted worldwide to deliver transport infrastructure. • Deciding whether to choose PPPs is a challenge for governments. • A Dynamic Discrete Choice model to determining value for money is proposed for road projects. • Implications for policymakers are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increased scarcity of public resources has led to a concomitant drive to account for value-for-money of interventions. Traditionally, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit analyses have been used to assess value-for-money of public health interventions. The social return on investment (SROI) methodology has capacity to measure broader socio-economic outcomes, analysing and computing views of multiple stakeholders in a singular monetary ratio. This review provides an overview of SROI application in public health, explores lessons learnt from previous studies and makes recommendations for future SROI application in public health. Methods: A systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify SROI studies published between January 1996 and December 2014 was conducted. All articles describing conduct of public health SROI studies and which reported a SROI ratio were included. An existing 12-point framework was used to assess study quality. Data were extracted using pre-developed codes: SROI type, type of commissioning organisation, study country, public health area in which SROI was conducted, stakeholders included in study, discount rate used, SROI ratio obtained, time horizon of analysis and reported lessons learnt. Results: 40 SROI studies, of varying quality, including 33 from high-income countries and 7 from low middle-income countries, met the inclusion criteria. SROI application increased since its first use in 2005 until 2011, declining afterwards. SROI has been applied across different public health areas including health promotion (12 studies), mental health (11), sexual and reproductive health (6), child health (4), nutrition (3), healthcare management (2), health education and environmental health (1 each). Qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to gather information for public health SROI studies. However, there remains a lack of consensus on who to include as beneficiaries, how to account for counterfactual and appropriate study-time horizon. Reported SROI ratios vary widely (1.1:1 to 65:1). Conclusions: SROI can be applied across healthcare settings. Best practices such as analysis involving only beneficiaries (not all stakeholders), providing justification for discount rates used in models, using purchasing power parity equivalents for monetary valuations and incorporating objective designs such as case-control or before-and-after designs for accounting for outcomes will improve robustness of public health SROI studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framework agreements are emerging as a construction management tool used by public authorities to achieve value for money (VFM) services. This research aims to assess whether use of framework agreements for highways maintenance projects can result in significant improvement for performance outcomes and production and transaction costs during the construction phase. A single-case study was conducted to investigate outcomes set within the context of a major county council. Independent-samplest-tests of 164 framework and traditional discrete projects proved that there were significant improvements in performance outcomes in time (finish on time), cost (payment accuracy) and quality (defects and health and safety) resulted from the framework agreements. The independent-samplest-tests also identified significant improvements in total cost for engagement and performance monitoring but without significant changes in tender prices. Conclusions from this study support the use of framework procurement for local authority public-sector clients in highways maintenance, leading to significant improvements of performance outcomes and cost savings and hence VFM services to achieve optimal use of resources. Based on the case-study findings, an informed policy decision has been made between the county council and adjacent local authorities to implement an expanded framework agreement to cover a South East region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As urban areas face increasing demands for new transport infrastructure to promote a sustainable future with an increasing reality of constrained government budgets, the debate on whether we should focus on rail or bus-based investments continues unabated in many jurisdictions. Associated with the debate is an emotional (or ideological) bias by communities in favour of one mode, especially rail, which carries much sway at the political level as if there is no budget constraint. This paper presents a stated choice experiment to investigate this context as two unlabelled options described by 20 potential drivers of community preferences for improved public transport, where each choice scenario is conditioned on an estimated construction cost and a total annual transport infrastructure budget for the relevant geographical jurisdiction. This is followed by a labelling of each alternative to reveal whether the option is bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail (LRT) and to establish whether this additional information influences preference revision. Data is collected in all eight capital cities of Australia in mid 2014. Mixed logit models with heteroscedastic conditioning in terms of the cost of the project infrastructure and whether the alternative is labelled BRT or LRT, provide new evidence on the nature and extent of community modal bias in a budget-constrained choice setting. The conclusions are twofold. On the one hand, if a fully compensatory choice rule is assumed (as is common in all previous modal comparison studies), LRT is predominantly preferred over BRT despite budgetary constraints, similarities in quality of service attributes and the opportunity to choose a greater network coverage for a given construction cost. However, when we allow for attribute non-attendance (a semi-compensatory choice rule), the modal bias is no longer a significant driver of preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the value for money of a product is of paramount importance to get useful strategic information relative to market and technological trends and major determinants of technological innovation, and to conduct benchmarking studies and make comparison among competitive products. This paper note presents a methodological "value for money" framework to assess the market competitiveness of a passenger car. This framework uses both published data and industry expert judgements. In this framework, the value for money of a car is assumed to be dependent on the economic cost (i.e., price and fuel consumption) that the consumer has to bear when using it, and on the car technical value (PTV) which is built as a function of certain measurable features of the product. The framework is adopted to analyse a sample of 216 cars that were sold in the Italian domestic market between the 70s and the early 90s. The relationship between the car technical value, price, and fuel consumption is investigated using a translog regression equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of store formats and the resultant consumers’ cross-shopping behavior has been the prevalent trends in Indian food and grocery retailing. More recently, however, the growing incidence of cross-format shopping—defined as consumers shopping regularly at each of two or more types of grocery retail outlets—has become a subject of research, as it is regarded as a necessary evil associated with concentric retail growth. The aim of the article is to identify factors influencing consumers’ cross-format shopping in relation to four retail formats—kirana stores, convenience stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets. Furthermore, it investigates the impact of identified factors on repatronage behavior relative to four types of retail outlets. The mall intercept survey method was used to collect data from 1,040 adult food and grocery consumers. Results from exploratory factor analysis and zero-order correlation matrix indicate that value for money, value for time, shopping situations, shopping motives, and store attributes are significant and positively correlated with cross-format shopping. The multiple discriminant analysis provides empirical support, suggesting that value for money, task definitions, value for time, shopping trip pattern, basket size, price-conscious and local shopping motives, price promotions, customer service, store environment, distance to store, and monthly household income are not only the significant predictors but also able to discriminate repatronage intentions toward four types of retail outlets in an emerging retail market. The present study provides useful information on consumers' intertype cross-shopping (e.g., crossing from kirana store type to supermarket type and vice versa) between four types of grocery retail outlets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A qualitative study of expectations and experience of eating a healthy diet. [•] Views of portion sizes were distorted but people were not hungry eating smaller portions. [•] Unhealthy food and junk food was seen as better value for money than healthy eating. [•] A healthy diet without sweet snacks (e.g. chocolate) was a barrier for many people. [•] Competing priorities and social pressures were greater barriers than a lack of skills. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The main objective of this paper is to verify how the management measures applied to the social services have contributed to "value for money" improvement in the UK. This term can be understood as a combination of variables such as quality, a rational use of resources and convenience in the provision of services. Nottinghamshire County Council is one of the local public entities that has implemented policies focused on generating "value for money" in the field of the social services. It is worth highlighting the design of prevention plans, the implementation of the personal budgets system, outsourcing arrangements, cooperation between the Social Services and the National Health Service and citizen participation in public decisions. To this end, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of the results from a set of interviews with municipal management officers of that county, carried out in 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the shortcomings affecting social services in Spain and highlights how the control function contributes to transparency and efficiency, with the consequent improvement of citizens’ confidence. The results from a survey are presented, reflecting the opinions of the statutory auditors in Spain as to these matters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]