United States Infrastructure Investments by State Governments : Grading the Decision Process
As with any large scale governmental activity, there are always questions about how well a function is performed in accomplishing its manifold objectives: are decisions well informed, coordinated, and cost effective? In the case of public investmen...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/01/23069016/united-states-infrastructure-investments-state-governments-grading-decision-process http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21129 |
| Summary: | As with any large scale governmental
activity, there are always questions about how well a
function is performed in accomplishing its manifold
objectives: are decisions well informed, coordinated, and
cost effective? In the case of public investments, these
issues are all the more important because of the large sums
and long horizons involved, which make them particularly
significant in terms of their consequences for an economy.
Unless the vital services provided by infrastructure are
effectively performed when and where needed, economies will
flag and private needs will go unmet. This report examines
the general contours of infrastructure spending and
financing in the United States. With a couple of notable
exceptions, most of that spending is done at the state and
local government level. An assessment of infrastructure
decision making examines the results of two recent surveys
of state governmental management practices performed by the
pew center for the states. These surveys contain a subset of
factors that provide indices of the quality of
infrastructure planning and management in the individual
states. These results allow comparisons among the states and
between the two periods, allowing one to take a cursory look
at the correlation between the grades and other
characteristics of the states. |
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