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Donors prioritise evaluation of Value for Money (VfM) in development interventions; however, the theory and practice of doing so is still developing and applied inconsistently. Theory found in donor government guides and textbooks is often high-level and economic evaluation theory can be difficult to apply in practice. This is compounded when there are multiple stakeholder groups, patchy data quality and short time horizons for decision making. This article demonstrates how Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA) can be used as a programme evaluation tool to bring practice together with theory to meet donor needs, suit development environments and provide evaluation robustness in defensible VfM conclusions. The example described here is in the evaluation of a programme in Samoa, where almost AU$10 million was donated by the Governments of New Zealand and Australia for tourism industry assistance in recovery from the 2012 Tropical Cyclone Evan (TCE). The programme design had six delivery modalities and its subsequent evaluation included an analysis of the cost utility of each modality, feeding into a VfM conclusion. This practical application of CUA theory demonstrates an effective approach to evaluating VfM.

Maintenance flexibility has been promoted as a value driver for long-term public–private partnerships (PPPs). However, the value and risk associated with this value driver have not been properly quantified in the Value for Money (VfM) assessment literature. To bridge the gap, a novel stochastic modelling methodology is proposed to characterize the complex interactions among the lifecycle cost (LCC), performance deterioration and maintenance strategies. Four different maintenance strategies are designed to emulate the practice in the traditional and PPP delivery methods. The LCC includes the direct maintenance cost, user cost, residual value, and payment deduction, the last three often being neglected in VfM assessments. Simulation-based optimization and dynamic programming analysis are used to determine the probability distributions of the LCC and the VfM. A hypothetical highway PPP project under an availability payment model is selected as a case study. The results show that maintenance flexibility is indeed able to reduce the LCC for the private party. However, this private efficiency, if not properly regulated, could cause a reduced asset residual value and an increased user cost, making the public party worse off. In addition, for all potential maintenance strategies, the public sector is found to retain significant lifecycle cost risk, largely in the form of user cost.

We study whether there is a racial bias in ratings of professional football players in Italian newspapers. We find that there is such a bias. Conditional on objective performance indicators black players receive a lower rating than non-black players. This is not a difference across the board but predominantly present at the lower end of the newspaper rating distribution. The best black players are not subject to a racial bias in ratings. We also find that clubs do not have a racial bias in the wages they pay to players. We speculate that for clubs there is sufficient competition to remove racial wage discrimination. Clubs simply want value for money. Newspaper football experts do seem to have a racial bias in their rating of players. We hypothesize that this might be unconscious discrimination related to stereotyping of black players.

This research is done to find out the relationship between consumer doubt and value for money on purchase intention. This research uses quantitative method by collecting data through questionnaires of 30 respondents, sample is done by purposive random sampling method. In this research, analysis of relationship was done between consumer doubt, and value for money on purchase intention to find out which variables affects purchase intention. What distinguishes this research from other researches is that there is a new product that has been owned yet by the more well-known brand of smartphones, namely the existence of the back screen that is used to take self- photographs by using the rear camera. Hypothesis is done to produces calculation statistics that the factor of purchase intention, that is consumer doubt affecting negatively on purchase intention, and value for money affecting positively on purchase intention.

This study investigates the changing discourses of the value of degrees in prospectuses between 1976 and 2013, chosen due to the massification of higher education and use of the particular ...

The Discussion Papers PPP Americas 2021 are a series of documents written to prepare for PPP Americas tenth edition. The event is the most important forum on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), organized every two years by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Driven by PPP Americas 2021, we gathered eight thematic groups were, with specialists, professionals, consultants, and scholars engaged directly in the preparation, identification, structuration, and management of PPP infrastructure projects in countries of the region. IDB specialists coordinated the groups to review the main hot topics on PPP projects for social and economic infrastructure, aiming to exchange experiences, debate successful cases and lessons learned. The present Discussion Paper, “Selection Criteria for PPP Projects,” collects the main conclusions and recommendations discussed by the group and intends to consolidate a knowledge exchange environment in infrastructure and PPP inside the region, offering best practices on infrastructure projects selection and value generation in the use of public resources in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), one of France’s top soccer clubs, was bought by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) in 2011. Since then, the club’s expenditure has risen precipitously, as have its victories. In this paper, we ask whether this represents value for money. We find that the efficiency of PSG did not deteriorate following the takeover. However, while PSG operated close to the production frontier in terms of converting resources to points, it scored vastly more points than was necessary to win the league. We estimate that PSG spent €140m more than was necessary to win the French league in 2016/2017. Since 2011, PSG is estimated to have overspent by up to €600m. This expenditure could be thought of as being merely the price of creditable performance at a European level, but we show that it has brought less success than would be expected.

Private finance initiative (PFI) is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to achieve a desirable procurement contract in PFIs. In the first part, we develop an incomplete contracting model to analyze the effectiveness of PFIs. We show that an appropriate fixed compensation is important in disentangling adverse selection. In the second part, we test the validity of this theoretical implication by case study of “Thalasso Fukuoka” and by cross-sectional analysis on Japan’s PFIs. The case study indicates that adverse selection under overestimated value for money (VFM) was a major reason for why the project failed. The cross-sectional analysis also shows that when the local government had overestimated the initial VFM, adverse selection discouraged private companies with higher reservation profits to apply for the project. It suggests that the overestimated initial VFM could make the project less productive even if it did not lead the project to bankrupcy.

Value for Money (VfM) is increasingly a funding requirement for UK aid. This article builds on research around different VfM approaches to highlight the challenges faced by the sector in ap...

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been among the preferred methods for building, operating, and financing highway projects. With PPP comes a higher cost of capital, which, under the theoretical economic rationale for PPP development, is recovered through greater operational managerial efficiency - thus delivering value for money. This paper addresses the cost of financing highway projects, particularly the spreads of project finance loans. The authors attempt to identify which variables related to the project, loan, and macroeconomic context, have a greater impact on spreads, and how they impact on the final spread. To examine the relationship between spreads and variables, this research used a data set of 22 PPP projects in the highways sector in Portugal, with a total of 63 loans, awarded between 1990 and 2010.

The objective of this entry is to clarify the multiple meanings of value for money (VFM) and to illustrate how the concept is operationalized when implementing public policies. It illustrates the VFM appraisal of the U.K. government's public–private partnership (PPP) program and discusses some of the difficulties involved in the VFM appraisal process. VFM is an abstract and rhetorical concept that is often used by governments when justifying policy decisions. A VFM appraisal may be defined as an examination to determine whether resources have been used optimally when delivering certain outputs or achieving intended outcomes. VFM audits in the public sector are carried out by parliamentary institutions to investigate the ways in which taxpayers’ money has been spent to achieve the government's policy objectives.

Maintaining good ratings increases the profits of sellers on online platforms. We analyze the role of strategic pricing for ratings management in a setting where a monopolist sells a good of unknown quality. Higher prices reduce the value for money, which on average worsens reviews. However, higher prices also induce only those consumers with a strong taste for the product to purchase, which on average improves reviews. Our model flexibly parametrizes the two effects. This parametrization can rationalize the observed heterogeneity in the relationship between reviews and prices. Based on an analytic characterization of the optimal dynamic pricing strategy, we study a platform’s choice of the sensitivity of its rating system to incoming reviews. The optimal sensitivity depends on the effect of prices on reviews and on how the platform weighs consumers and sellers in its objective. Although sellers always benefit from more sensitivity, consumers may suffer from higher prices and from slower learning from reviews due to endogenously emerging price and rating cycles. This paper was accepted by Kartik Hosanagar, information systems. Funding: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [CRC TR 224, Project C3]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4771 .

This chapter focuses on the economics of breast cancer care, describing the substantial and rising costs of breast cancer care due to increasing patient numbers and increasing costs of novel therapies. This is a major concern for stakeholders on different levels: health care providers and managers, health care insurers, and government. To assist these stakeholders in making decisions to secure the quality of breast cancer care while costs are rising and budgets are under pressure, several health economic analysis methods are available. These methods (cost-off-illness study, budget-impact analysis, and economic evaluation) provide information on the economic burden of breast cancer and the affordability and efficiency of breast cancer care, and are briefly described, while suggestions for further reading are provided.

This paper examines the state of practice used in the value for money (VfM) analysis of highway projects in the United States. Based on direct contact with public transportation agencies and the search of project websites, seven VfM studies were selected for a comparative analysis. The paper finds that the choice of public sector comparator (PSC) model varied from one study to another, which is driven by agency experience. The risks transferred from employing the public-private partnership (P3) model are closely related to the choice of repayment schemes. Discount rates used in practice are similar across studies despite wide-ranging debates over appropriate rates in the literature. VfM studies show the advantages of agency municipal bonds are reduced when favorable borrowing rates are available to private partners. The paper lastly examines reasons why agencies chose not to deliver projects as P3s based on VfM studies.

Pressures to cut public expenditure and to reach high value for money of projects that use scarce public money are evident across the globe. At the same time there seems to be a lack of decision support tools for pin-pointing whether public services are yielding net benefits. Accountability is called for but the ‘accounting systems’ that validate the right choices in service delivery are not yet thoroughly established. As a response, an impact evaluation via a real-world case study of a multi-modal transport safety agency is presented. The main contribution of this article is methodological, including a summary of study cordoning; description of methods to map impact mechanisms; quantification of socio-economic impacts of services; the benefit to cost (B/C) appraisal of services and service bundles, and evaluation of an agency's overall B/C ratio by applying the findings to systems level. The described analytical process is repeatable elsewhere with modifications or as it stands.

While many studies have identified the important aspects on the ship to cruisers, none has evaluated these attributes to determine cruisers’ willingness to pay for each attribute. This paper is the first to use a choice experiment to unbundle the overarching cruise price to explore the preferences of cruisers. The absence of a status quo effect suggests that cruise passengers are novelty lovers who welcome innovative offerings apart from those who cruise specifically to “get away”. Overall, males, Gen X-ers and first timers were willing to pay the most for a cabin with a view while the desire to be pampered influenced preferences for cabin comfort and shore excursion choice. Concern over value for money explained whether a respondent would be more prone to choosing the new options presented instead of remaining with the status quo.

This review aimed to assess evidence on effectiveness and value for money of cash-based humanitarian assistance. We followed standard procedures for review of (quasi) experimental studies and adapted procedures for studies reporting costs, cost-effectiveness, cost–benefit or cost–utility of unconditional cash transfer, conditional cash transfer and voucher programmes in humanitarian settings. Of 4094 identified studies, only five met effectiveness review inclusion criteria. These five, plus five others, met cost review inclusion criteria. Although limited conclusions about comparative effectiveness and value for money can be drawn from this review, findings do provide important insights for consideration in design and evaluation of programmes in crisis-affected settings.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has embraced innovation as a means of leveraging operational advantage by pulling ideas through to operational capabilities more effectively and efficiently. As a result it has announced the Defence Innovation Initiative (DII) aimed at attracting investment from government and non-government sources and to improve value for money. This paper explores the challenges associated with delivering enterprise-level innovation and suggests that holistic systems approaches that are sensitive to the locus of innovation within an enterprise system are needed to secure superior value from ideas. Our early findings show the utility of addressing innovation system coherence through an understanding of the models, constructs and time constants within the innovation landscape when viewed from the perspective of the Operate function within the Defence Operating Model. The insights derived have the potential to inform the approach taken by the UK DII and, by generalisation, the design of innovation systems within the context of any complex adaptive system (CAS).

The purpose of this paper is to understand the effects of the institutional environment on project outcomes in order to contribute to the accumulating accounting literature on P3s. Based on an empi...

Purpose The extant literature posits several claims about the equitable resources allocation through compliance in public procurement management. Notwithstanding, there are hardly any empirical studies that explore the link between the causes and extent of compliance on one hand and value for money (VfM) on the other hand. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of public procurement laws in ensuring VfM in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a qualitative case study approach involving three local government agencies in Ghana. Purposive and stratified random sampling strategies were used in selecting respondents who were interviewed through focused group discussions, semi-structured and open-ended questionnaires. The study utilizes an interpretivist/constructivist paradigm which allows for the co-creation of knowledge and subjectivity in knowledge acquisition. Findings The study finds that the presence of a legal and regulatory framework does not ipso facto guarantee compliance and VfM. Additionally, a possible reason why even reported cases of compliance do not translate into VfM is that evidence of compliance, especially in a developing country setting, is often a façade. Practical implications Public procurement entities in developing countries stand little chance of achieving accountability and VfM gains if they continue to rely on compliance as a micro-management tool. Originality/value The paper challenges the dominant assumptions in the public procurement management discourse by drawing attention to the quality of reported compliance and its implication for VfM.

Public spending on external consultancies, particularly within the health sector, is highly controversial in many countries. Yet, despite the apparently large sums of money involved, there is little international analysis surrounding the scope of activities of consultants, meaning there is little understanding of how much is spent, for what purpose and with what result. This paper examines spending on external consultancies in each of New Zealand's 20 District Health Boards (DHB). Using evidence obtained from DHBs, it provides an insight into the cost and activities of consultants within the New Zealand health sector, the policies behind their engagement and the processes in place to ensure value for money. It finds that DHB spending on external consultants is substantial, at $NZ10-60 million annually. However, few DHBs had policies governing when consultants should be engaged and many were unable to easily identify the extent or purpose of consultancies within their organisation, making it difficult to derive an accurate picture of consultant activity throughout the DHB sector. Policies surrounding value for money were uncommon and, where present, were rarely applied. Given the large sums being spent by New Zealand's DHBs, and assuming expenditure is similar in other health systems, our findings point to the need for greater accountability for expenditure and better evidence of value for money of consultancies within publicly funded health systems.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administers the Better Energy Homes scheme to provide a financial incentive for home owners to engage in energy efficiency retrofits. This study analyses data from the scheme and Building Energy Rating data for participants to the scheme to examine the value for money achieved by households. In addition, this research identifies which retrofit combinations provide greatest value for money, in terms of energy efficiency gains, for the grant provider. We utilize an error-in-variables approach to model the variation in benefits accruing to households of varying characteristics. We find that household and grant provider surplus can be maximized in the short term by retrofitting less energy efficient and larger homes, timber or steel frame homes and houses rather and apartments. The types of retrofits leading to the greatest surplus for both household and grant provider include cavity wall insulation paired with either a boiler with heating controls or...

Electricity markets must ensure reliability, deliver value for money, unleash technology and service innovation, and empower and protect consumers. This article offers a brief refresher on how we should expect energy prices to form in a modern system and the ways in which they should be expected to shape critical investment decisions. The author lays out a robust and sustainable approach to ensuring a reliable, low-carbon electric supply at the lowest reasonable cost.

Canadians need to talk about their healthcare, about who pays for what, when. Lack of money is not the issue; how that money is spent is the issue—what public healthcare is covering and not covering. The same dollar amount can be spent quite differently and more effectively. The 1950s first-dollar, single-payor decision shifted the burden from the individual to government, but a lot has changed since the 1950s. Today Medicare is not universal, comprehensive, reasonably accessible, or portable. With residual constitutional power residing in Ottawa, there is no reason for the fragmentation and inequalities facing Canadians. Sound fiscal policy enables funding at appropriate levels when needed; however, current fiscal policy is not sound. Canada can learn from countries that outperform it in terms of quality, waits, access, outcomes, and value for money. This article provides some fresh thinking about the financing of a system that currently is failing Canadians.

Theaim of this study is to know the effect of accountability, transparency, andsupervision on budget performance in regional owned enterprises (BUMD) both simultaneouslyand partially. The design of this study is included in associative causalresearch. The population of this study is all Government employees in Riauprovince. The sample selection is by using the purposive sampling method, whichis included by the employees of The Accounting and The Internal SupervisoryDepartment (SPI). The collecting data technique is by using the questionnairesystem. The data analysis technique used is simple regression analysis andmultiple regression analysis. The results showed that the accountability,transparency, and supervision both partially and simultaneously has a positiveand significant effect on budget performance with the concept of value formoney in Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD) of Riau province., The aim of this study is to know the effect ofaccountability, transparency, and supervision on budget performance in regional owned enterprises (BUMD)both simultaneously and partially. .Thedesign of this study is included in associative causal research. The population of this study is all Government employees in Riau province. The sample selection is by using the purposive sampling the method, which is included by theemployees of the accounting and the internalsupervisory department (SPI). Thecollecting data techniqueis by using the questionnaire system. The data analysis the technique used is a simple regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that accountability,transparency and supervision both partially and simultaneously have a positive andsignificant effect on budget performance with the concept of value for money inregionalowned enterprises (BUMD)of Riauprovince.

It’s been five years since tuition fees shot up to £9000 a year. Anne Gulland explores whether medical students in the UK are getting good value for money and what effect the rise in fees has had on student expectations

The digital revolution, the availability and the immediacy of information are the key factors that define today’s consumer. A demanding consumer who can easily judge value for money. As a result, the insurer is obliged to offer the correct rate for these insurance products. For this reason, the aim of this article is to give a basic pricing for the cover of the “disease” risk by the application of the generalized linear model and the proposal of an alternative pricing based on the Data Science.

Budgeting techniques are undergoing major change in many OECD countries in the wake of the global financial crisis. As part of this, many of the directions of pre-crisis budgeting reform are being critically reviewed. This paper reviews the past and future of budgeting reform. It also considers what will be needed to develop a more robust analytical framework within which to map future reform directions. JEL codes: E62, H12, H50, H55, H61 Keywords: fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, prioritization, value-for-money, reallocation, accrual accounting, accrual budgeting, performance budgeting, programme budgeting, fiscal rules, expenditure rules, expenditure ceilings, expenditure carryover, actor/motivation frameworks, legal principles framework.

The study examines how selected factors influence the efficiency and effectiveness of municipal waste management expenditure. The analysis is based on research concerning municipalities in the Czech Republic (year 2014, N=365). Two research methods are used: a survey which generated qualitative data about the preferences of municipal representatives, and an econometric model. The obtained results are compared, and they show that they are complementary to each other. The most important factors are the price, quality of services and frequency of services. This finding indicates the validity of our assumption based on the idea of value for money.

The increasing unavailability of public financing leads decision-makers to cut funds for protected areas without considering the ensuing environmental, economic and social impacts. The research investigated what and how much value the Miramare Natural Marine Reserve (Italy) was able to create from public funds. The environmental accounting approach was adopted, and environmental costs and benefits taken into account. Environmental benefits assessed ecosystem services such as gas regulation, nutrient cycling, biological control, food production, nursery, raw materials, recreation and science. The model demonstrated that the value produced by the Protected Area fully covered the money spent by public authorities by a rate of 2.5. La crescente indisponibilita di risorse mette gli amministratori pubblici nella condizione di dover ridurre il finanziamento destinato alle aree protette. Il presente studio si pone l’obiettivo di valutare la ricchezza prodotta dall’Area marina protetta di Miramare (AMPM) a fronte del finanziamento ministeriale erogato. A tal fine e stato adottato un modello di contabilita ambientale che da evidenza dei benefici ambientali prodotti dall’AMPM. Tale stima si traduce nella valutazione monetaria dei servizi ecosistemici, tra i quali: gas regulation, nutrient cycling, biological control, food production, nursery, raw materials, recreation e science. Il modello cosi sviluppato dimostra che la ricchezza prodotta dall’AMPM si pone in un rapporto di 2,5 rispetto al finanziamento pubblico erogato.

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.

Background An increase in the number of Indigenous homeless persons in Cairns, Northern Australia, prompted the Queensland Police Service (QPS) to commence a pilot ‘Return to Country’ (R2C) program. The program was designed to assist homeless people who were voluntarily seeking to return to their home communities. This study assesses the costs of running the program and evaluates its net economic impact. Methods Retrospective uncontrolled cost, cost-effectiveness and cost-offset analyses were undertaken from a societal perspective. All costs were expressed in 2014 AU$. Results The R2C program successfully assisted 140 participants to return home, reducing the prevalence of homelessness in the regional center by 9.6%. The total program cost was estimated as AU$ 135,831 or AU$ 970 per participant. The economic analysis indicated that R2C was value for money, potentially saving AU$ 2,714,460. Limitations of the study included retrospective data collection and no established alternative comparison group. Conclusion R2C is a relatively simple, minimal cost program, which can be utilized by policy makers to offer one solution to homelessness. This economic evaluation informs the QPS of the effects of the R2C program in order to guide further program initiatives. The R2C model may be applied to assist temporarily stranded Indigenous people in other locations within Australia or internationally to return home. No funding was obtained for conducting this study.