The franchising of public service activities (concessions de service public) has traditionally played a significant role in infrastructural provision in France, notably in the public utility sectors of electricity, gas and water. Concession accounting is troubled by two major problems. First, operating capability maintenance (OCM) is not achieved, primarily because of the failure to tackle the issue of backlog depreciation. In sectors with high capital intensity, long asset lives and marked technological change, the restrictive legislation pertaining to asset revaluation and, hence, depreciation, aggravates this OCM problem. Second, financial capital maintenance (FCM) is not achieved, particularly when amortization of the enterprise's investment in those concession assets which are surrendered to public authorities (I'amortissement de caducite) is abandoned. This evaluation of French practice is policy relevant for two distinct reasons. First, given the significance of concessions in France, it is importa...