Value for Funding: Expanding the Analytical Framework for Infrastructure P3 Evaluation

Abstract

Value for Money (VfM) is the standard evaluation framework for infrastructure public-private partnership (P3) alternatives to traditional public–sector project procurement and financing. VfM’s primary focus is on a net present value cost comparison between the alternatives. However, in light of the challenges that U.S. state and local governments face in the current economic environment, an additional analytical framework that explicitly expands the focus to include public-sector funding and fiscal issues in the evaluation of an infrastructure P3 would be useful in many cases. The authors are calling this new framework a “Value for Funding” (VfF) approach. This article briefly describes the rationale and methodology of a VfF approach in general, and lists four planned articles by the authors to further develop the framework.