A Systematic Public Capital Management and Budgeting Process

Abstract

This chapter introduces the readers to a public capital management and budgeting process and its role in generating public infrastructure networks. The main purpose of the chapter is to describe the normative public capital management and budgeting practices that are recommended by the public finance literature. These normative practices are segregated into four main components: (1) long-term capital planning, (2) capital budgeting and financial management, (3) capital project execution and project management, and (4) infrastructure maintenance. Given that the literature recommends specific practices to maximize efficiency in public capital spending, the four main components, combined, are referred to as the systematic capital management and budgeting process. The systematic process discussed in detail in this chapter is used as a common framework for each of the 12 country case studies in describing their respective public capital management and budgeting practices.