Optimal Public Infrastructure: Some Guideposts to Ensure we don’t Overspend
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v8i0.42546Résumé
It’s time to consider a more economically efficient model for financing roads, bridges and other public infrastructure. It’s true that Canada has become one of the biggest spenders on infrastructure among OECD countries, at four per cent of GDP, but using GDP to measure the share the government should spend on infrastructure is an anachronistic and arbitrary measure. We all know it is important that Canada keep pace with maintaining and building the necessary infrastructure to maximise our productive capacity and economic prosperity. But how do we know if we are on the right track? How much investment is enough, and what is the optimal level of public investment in infrastructure? This paper proposes a framework for evaluating current and future levels of financing for public infrastructure. Rather than relying on arbitrary comparisons with Canadas post war ‘golden age’ of infrastructure investment (an all too common standby in political circles), we propose a standard that is based in economic efficiency and which aims to maximise the public benefits associated with infrastructure investment. We also take a historical look public capital spending in Canada, as well as the trend toward privatization of public infrastructure and core services that began some 30 years ago after the Mulroney government was elected. This trend has seen many core services and assets that were once publicly run transition to outright privatization. It is interesting to note that the most heavily privatized sectors (utilities and communications) are also the sectors most often spared from the label of ‘inadequate’, a label that befalls so much of Canada’s public infrastructure. When infrastructure is financed through taxation, there is a tendency for spending to be discouraged to ease the burden on taxpayers; however, this inevitably leads to infrastructure maintenance and construction being deferred, with a significant deficit inevitably built up. A user-pay model would work to eliminate political influence, create revenue for infrastructure renewal, and facilitate an optimal allocation of infrastructure resources. All of this further helps maximise the benefits derived from public infrastructure. This model of infrastructure finance and provision could be further advanced and reinforced through the creation of provincial and federal bodies whose mandate would be to actively evaluate infrastructure investments in their respective jurisdictions, prioritizing funding for the most meritorious projects, and those offering the highest public return on investment. When projects are funded through taxation and access is not priced, there is often little or no incentive for individuals to make efficient use of them. The lack of direct accountability means individuals fail to use infrastructure judiciously and sparingly to preserve the life of public assets or prevent unnecessary congestion. Moreover, the lack of a clear sense of cost means governments do not know the true value that the public places on one type of infrastructure over another. Thus, government budgeting for such projects remains inefficient and skewed. The best level and mix of public infrastructure can only be determined when government and private providers can reliably establish user demands in a priced (efficient) system. The current model of funding public infrastructure deprives users of infrastructure as well as government planners from vital information they need to make informed and efficient decisions. Both remain unclear on value for money, and costaccountability, but are bound by an innate aversion to increased tax-financing. Governments, fully cognizant of both consumer attitudes and the need to retain vote-getting power, thus swing between funding necessary infrastructure and allowing infrastructure deficits to grow. This paper advocates for a more efficient, accountable system with greater dependence on user-pay models and reinforced by and active arm’s length government agency designed to advance merit based project selection, and maximise public benefit.
Téléchargements
Publié-e
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
The following is the copyright statement of SPPP.
Copyright © <Author name> <year>. This is an open-access paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC 4.0, which allows non-commercial sharing and redistribution so long as the original author and publisher are credited.
Publication Copyright and Licensing
The following guidelines and information, provided in six sections, are intended for authors (the “Author”) who are invited to write a paper (the “Work”) for The School of Public Policy Publications (the “Publisher”). The rights and responsibilities conveyed in the SPP Author Agreement will only apply once your paper is accepted for publication. At that point in the publication process, you will be asked to download the form and return a signed copy via e-mail to spppublications@ucalgary.ca. Please review the below information to ensure agreement with SPPP policies.
Section 1: Author’s Grant of Rights
In consideration of the Publisher’s agreeing to publish the Work in The School of Public Policy Publications, the Author hereby grants to the Publisher the following:
1.1 The irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the Work in perpetuity throughout the world in all means of expression by any method or media now known or hereafter developed, including electronic format;
1.2 The irrevocable, royalty-free right to use the Author’s name and likeness in association with the Work in published form and in advertising and promotional materials related to the Work; and
1.3 The irrevocable, royalty-free right to license others to do any or all of the above.
Section 2: Prior Publication & Publication by Others
2.1 The Author agrees not to publish the Work, or authorize any third party to publish the Work, either in print or electronically, prior to publication of the Work by the Publisher.
2.2 The Author agrees not to publish the Work in any publication outlet which is substantially similar to The School of Public Policy Publications for a period of six (6) months after publication of the Work in The School of Public Policy Publications. Substantially similar is defined as a non-subscription, open-access publication outlet with a similar mandate/vision and intended audience.
2.3 Should the Author publish or distribute the Work elsewhere at any time or in any alternate format, the Author agrees to contact The School of Public Policy Publications to inform them of the subsequent publication.
2.4 Should the Author publish or distribute the Work elsewhere at any time or in any alternate format, the Author agrees to make reasonable efforts to ensure that any such additional publication cites the publication in The School of Public Policy Publications by author, title, and publisher, through a tagline, author bibliography, or similar means. A sample acknowledgement would be:
“Reprinted with permission from the author. Originally published in the The School of Public Policy Publications, http://www.policyschool.ca/publications/.”
Section 3: Editing and Formatting
The Author authorizes the Publisher to edit the Work and to make such modifications as are technically necessary or desirable to exercise the rights in Section 1 in differing media and formats. The Publisher will make no material modification to the content of the Work without the Author’s consent.
Section 4: Author’s Ownership of Copyright and Reservation of Rights
4.1 Nothing in this agreement constitutes a transfer of the copyright by the Author, and the copyright in the Work is subject to the rights granted by this agreement.
4.2 The Author retains the following rights, including but not limited to, the right:
4.2.1 To reproduce and distribute the Work, and to authorize others to reproduce and distribute the Work, in any format;
4.2.2 To post a version of the Work in an institutional repository or the Author’s personal or departmental web page so long as The School of Public Policy Publications is cited as the source of first publication of the Work (see sample acknowledgement above).
4.2.3 To include the Work, in whole or in part, in another work, subject to Section 2 above and provided that The School of Public Policy Publications is cited as the source of first publication of the Work (see sample acknowledgement above).
4.3 The Editors and Editorial Board of The School of Public Policy Publications requires authors to publish the Work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the Work for noncommercial purposes, and ensures the Author is credited for the original creation. This onward licensing is subject to section 2.4 of this agreement, which further ensures that the original publisher is credited.
Section 5: Author’s Warranties and Undertakings
The Author warrants that:
5.1 The Author is the sole author of the Work, or if a joint author, the Author has identified within the Work the other authors, and holds the copyright, either solely or jointly, and has the power to convey the rights granted in this agreement.
5.2 The Work has not previously been published, in whole or in part, except as follows:
5.3 Any textual, graphic or multimedia material included in the Work that is the property or work of another is either explicitly identified by source and cited in the Work or is otherwise identified as follows:
5.4 To the best of the Author’s knowledge, the Work does not contain matter that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory; it does not violate another’s civil right, right of privacy, right of publicity, or other legal right; and it is otherwise not unlawful.
5.5 To the best of the Author’s knowledge, the Work does not infringe the copyright or other intellectual property or literary rights of another.
5.6 The Author will indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss, damages, expenses, awards, and judgments arising from breach of any such warranties.
Section 6: The Reuse of Third-Party Works
The Publisher requires that the Author determine, prior to publication, whether it is necessary to obtain permissions from any third party who holds rights with respect to any photographs, illustrations, drawings, text, or any other material (“third-party work”) to be published with or in connection with your Work. Copyright permission will not be necessary if the use is determined to be fair dealing, if the work is in the public domain, or if the rights-holder has granted a Creative Commons or other licence. If either the Author or Publisher determines for any reason that permission is required to include any thirdparty work, the Author will obtain written permission from the rightsholder.
