Government Guarantees: Allocating and Valuing Risk in Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects (Directions in Development) - Softcover

Irwin, Timothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0821368583 ISBN 13: 9780821368589

Publisher: World Bank Publications, 2007

Synopsis

Government guarantees can help persuade private investors to finance valuable new infrastructure. But because their costs are hard to estimate and usually do not show up in the government's accounts, governments can be tempted to grant too many guarantees. Drawing on a diverse range of disciplines, including finance, history, economics, and psychology, Government Guarantees aims to help governments give guarantees only when they are justified. It reviews the history of government guarantees and identifies the cognitive and political obstacles to good decisions about guarantees. It then develops a framework for judging when governments should bear risk in an infrastructure project (seeking to make precise the oft-invoked principle that risks should be allocated to those best placed to manage them); explains how guarantees can be valued; and discusses how aspects of public-sector management can be modified to improve the likely quality of government decisions about guarantees. Although intended mainly for governments and those who advise them, the book may be of interest to others concerned about the problems of allocating and valuing exposure to risk. Similarly, although its focus is physical infrastructure, it may be relevant to people working on public-private partnerships in education, health, and other social services.

About this title

Product Description

Government Guarantees Considers when governments should give guarantees to private investors. After describing the history of guarantees, and the challenges the politics and psychology create for good decisions, this book sets out principles for allocating risk, techniques for valuing guarantees, and rules to encourage good decisions.

Edition details

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0821368583
• ISBN 13: 9780821368589
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 228