Our Untapped Wealth: Toward Modern Management of Public Assets

Abstract

Historically, governments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have accumulated extensive assets. In recent decades, austerity and cost-cutting needs, sustainability agendas, the changing role of the State, information and communication technologies, public management reforms, and increasing knowledge sharing, have significantly changed the management practices of public buildings, movable property, land, forests, cultural heritage, and other nonfinancial public assets. Unfortunately, LAC societies have not reaped the many potential benefits that nonfinancial public assets could generate. Outdated regulatory frameworks and lack of adequate management instruments and technological tools, limit the economic and social uses of these assets. These affects their ability to contribute to the emergence from crises. The first chapter discusses the many benefits of efficient asset management. It evaluates the situation of public asset management in LAC and presents a model with the core components of an efficient public asset management system (governance, information, financing, risk management, measurement and control, and strategic asset planning). The second chapter presents an example of asset management transformation at the national level, describing the background and scope of the reforms undertaken by New Zealand three decades ago. The third chapter analyzes the implications of efficient asset management for local governments, concluding with a proposal for the creation of urban wealth funds.