nep-ppm New Economics Papers
on Project, Program and Portfolio Management
Issue of 2010‒05‒15
five papers chosen by
Arvi Kuura
Parnu College - Tartu University

  1. A Game Theoretical Approach to Sharing Penalties and Rewards in Projects By Arantza Estévez-Fernández
  2. Serving the Many or Serving the Most Needy? By Christoph Starke
  3. Local governments opting for PPPs in the schools sector By Carvalho, João; Cruz, Nuno; Cunha Marques, Rui
  4. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL COST DRIVERS By Simon Alcouffe; Nicolas Berland; Benjamin Dreveton; Moez Essid
  5. Access of the Poor to Water Supply and Sanitation in India: Salient Concepts, Issues and Cases By Nitish Jha

  1. By: Arantza Estévez-Fernández (VU University Amsterdam)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes situations in which a project consisting of several activities is not realized according to plan. If
    Keywords: Project planning; delay; expedition; cost sharing mechanism; surplus sharing mechanism; bankruptcy
    JEL: C71 C44
    Date: 2009–10–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20090090&r=ppm
  2. By: Christoph Starke (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg)
    Abstract: For free, subsidized or cost-covering? The decision on how much to charge for a good or service is fundamental in social business planning. The higher the fee paid by the recipient, the more people in need can be served by the additional revenues. But charging a fee means simultaneously to exclude the very poor from consumption. This paper argues that the entrepreneur’s trade off between both effects is governed by her level of poverty aversion, i.e., her preference intensity for the service of needy people with different incomes. Additionally, we account for the possibility of excess demand for the provided good and assume that applicants are rationed by non-price allocation mechanisms. We thereby contribute to the extensive literature on the pricing and rationing behaviour of nonprofit firms. Within our theoretical model, we find ambiguous reactions of the entrepreneur to a cut in donations. Given a sufficiently low level of status-quo donations, entrepreneurs with relatively high poverty aversion tend to increase the project volume, while those with relatively low poverty aversion do the opposite.
    Keywords: allocation mechanism, donation, nonprofit, poverty aversion, social entrepreneur, user fee
    JEL: L31 H41 D45
    Date: 2010–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:100002&r=ppm
  3. By: Carvalho, João; Cruz, Nuno; Cunha Marques, Rui
    Abstract: The Portuguese government recently launched a new program to refurbish the secondary schools all over the country. Along with this process more responsibilities are being transferred to local governments concerning pre and elementary schools. This is seen as the main motivation for the settlement of new local public private partnerships (PPP) within this sector. This paper discusses the public private partnerships (PPP) contracts in the Portuguese schools sector. Four national cases and a foreign experience are analysed. In this study, some of the sound practices presented in the literature are highlighted; we argue that some of these practices are not being applied in this sector in Portugal. A risk analysis for the schools sector was developed, hoping to contribute towards an increasing number of partnerships reaching the best possible value for money (VfM). Furthermore, we suggest several contract management guidelines and draw up some improvement proposals. We conclude that there is a need to enhance the transparency of the procurement phase, to normalise the contractual documents, and to assure a better risk allocation as well as an improved monitoring of the contract.
    Keywords: contract management; public-private partnerships (PPP); public tender; risk allocation; schools
    JEL: D86 D81 G38 H52
    Date: 2010–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:22558&r=ppm
  4. By: Simon Alcouffe (ESC Toulouse - Ecole Supérieure de commerce de Toulouse); Nicolas Berland (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX); Benjamin Dreveton (CEREGE - IAE de Poitiers); Moez Essid (GRIISG - ISG paris)
    Abstract: This paper draws on Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) literature and cost driver theory to study the nature and role of environmental cost drivers. More specifically, two types of operations related to environmental protection were empirically examined: the removal of asbestos from buildings and soil remediation. Findings from a series of case studies are presented and discussed. The paper contributes to existing literature in three ways: (1) by testing the adaptability of cost drivers typologies in a non-traditional, nonindustrial setting (2) by proposing a more dynamic vision of the cost of social and environmental responsibility of the firm, and (3) by shedding light on the complex interrelationships of environmental cost drivers.
    Keywords: Environmental Management Accounting, Cost Driver, Social & Environmental Responsibility.
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00479538_v1&r=ppm
  5. By: Nitish Jha (Independent researcher and consultant)
    Abstract: Access to safe water is necessary for lives and livelihoods. In India, a mid-term assessment reveals that the country has already met its MDG (Millennium Development Goal) in terms of expanding access to water infrastructure although in the parallel subsector of sanitation progress is falling far short of the mark. In reality, most basic observations indicate that water supply coverage is not as good as the figures show while national sanitation continues to be poor even after almost six decades of efforts to eradicate open defecation. It argues that economic, technical, institutional as well as social factors constrain access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in India for both the urban and rural poor, and that coverage figures do not reflect this restricted access. It finds that, increasingly, communities are being required to manage their own water and sanitation schemes, not just in rural areas but in urban ones as well. There are definite advantages to such an institutional arrangement if the transition to community management is carried out smoothly. Often, however, the chances of success of community management are vitiated because policy makers misunderstand and misapply three interlinked concepts that are crucial to the success of community-managed water and sanitation schemes?participation; water and sanitation burden; and project ownership. The paper concludes by clarifying these concepts and the implications they have for policy implementation in this sector.
    Keywords: Access of the Poor to Water Supply and Sanitation in India: Salient Concepts, Issues and Cases
    Date: 2010–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:62&r=ppm

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