Research perspective: Japan

The new director of the Building Research Institute of Japan describes an interwoven pattern in which work is done by the Institute for the policies of government through the Ministry of Construction, for other government agencies and for private firms; researchers from private laboratories are also accepted each year and can then take back the results learned. The number of staff, including 120 researchers and research assistants, is relatively small, highly qualified and has an average age of 37. International collaboration is an important activity.     

Crowd out or crowd in?: The effects of common interest developments on political participation in California

Individuals are increasingly opting to contract directly with “private governments,” or common interest developments (CIDs) such as condominiums, cooperatives, and planned developments, for many of the traditional functions of general-purpose local government. Over the past thirty years, CIDs have proliferated throughout the U.S. In 1962, there were fewer than 500 such organizations nationally while today there are an estimated 205,000 CIDs including over 42 million Americans. According to several scholars, the past thirty years have also witnessed declines in civic engagement or “social capital.” This paper investigates links between these trends. In particular, it analyzes the effects of planned developments (PDs) in California on voting behavior in statewide general elections during the 1990s. Results indicate that areas with PDs do not exhibit significantly different voter turnout, registration, and party affiliation once potential selection bias is taken into account. These findings undermine the popular view that private governments crowd out participation in traditional public government. I acknowledge financial support from the National Institute on Aging as well as the Institute for Business and Economic Research and the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. I am grateful to John Quigley, Steven Raphael, Eugene Smolensky, Alan Auerbach, and seminar participants at UC Berkeley for valuable comments. All remaining errors are my own.     

Managing watershed resources

Watersheds, as integrated land and water systems, have proved difficult to manage successfully. This is in part due to the complexities of accommodating different groups of users and making use of multiple resources in spatially large areas. The paper argues, however, that watersheds have a natural physical and economic logic as a unit of analysis. As a bridge between microlevel analysis of individual farmers or economic units and a regional or sectoral approach, the watershed, when analyzed in an integrated, multi-disciplinary manner, yields useful policy results for improved management of land and water resources. Economic analysis plays a key role in this analysis. Integrated analysis, however, does not mean integrated implementation. Existing systems of social and government organization must be used to implement the chosen policies. This is a difficult, but essential step and may require the use of government fiscal and price policies to harmonize social and private goals.The views expressed in this paper are those of the author, who is Research Associate with the East-West Environment and Policy Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii. Parts of this paper draw on Dixon [5], prepared for the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.     

Building Research Institute in Japan: past, present and future

The rise of private research institutes linked to Japanese contractors and manufacturers has divided research into either the public or private sector. This paper provides the background history and context to building research in Japan, addresses what suitable strategies exist for the publicly-funded Building Research Institute, what research topics are suitable for government funding and how public and private research organizations might develop strategies of co-operation. La creation d'instituts de recherche prives lies a des entreprises et des fabricants japonais a separe la recherche entre le secteur public et le prive. L'auteur de l'article rappelle les faits et presente le cadre de la recherche dans le secteur du b^ atiment au Japon; il recense les strategies que pourrait adopter l'Institut de recherche sur le batiment a financement public, ainsi que les sujets de recherche qui pourraient beneficier de credits publics et explique comment les organisations de recherche publiques et privees pourraient elaborer des politiques de cooperation.     

Evolutionary game of investors’ opportunistic behaviour during the operational period in PPP projects

In public–private partnership (PPP) projects, during the operational period, private investors are prone to act opportunistically in pursuit of their own gain. Based on the perspectives of government’s administrative supervisory functions, this paper analyses the issue of strategic choice for opportunistic behaviour by the government and private investors during the operational period of projects using evolutionary game theory. The results show that there is not a single set of evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) between the government and the investors. The end results of the evolutionary game are related to the initial states of the system. Conditions that would dissuade investors from adopting an opportunistic behaviour, and settings that would encourage government to supervise closely, are explored. Punishments set by the government, which would then lead to different ultimate choices made by these two parties, are also discussed. Finally, the paper proposes a few policy recommendations for government supervision on the basis of parametric analysis. The findings also serve as a reference for the decision-making process of the government and the investors.     

我国民营资本参与医院PPP 的PEST-SWOT 分析

随着新医改的深入实施,国家鼓励和引导民营资本举办医疗机构,形成多元化办医格局。PPP（Public Private Partnership）是民营资本参与医改的重要路径之一,具有独特的优势。为了识别民营资本参与医院PPP 的发展前景,采用 PEST-SWOT 模型进行分析论证,利用PEST 分析民营资本参与医院PPP 的宏观环境,识别民营资本的外部因素即面临的机会威胁,通过与国有企业的比较,识别民营资本及企业的内部因素即自身的优势和劣势,并根据不同的组合提出了相应的发展战略和应对措施,从而为民营资本的投资决策提供参考依据。     

基于公平偏好的公共文化 PPP 项目政府补偿研究

鉴于公共文化 PPP 项目收益性弱、对私人部门吸引力不足的特点,将私人部门公平偏好引入公共文化 PPP 项目的政府补偿机制设计,构建了以政府为主导的两阶段公私 Stackelberg 博弈模型。 以柳州某文化广场 PPP 项目为例分析了私人部门公平偏好对其初始投资决策、最优投资决策及政府补偿的影响。结果表明:博弈的第一阶段中政府初步许诺的运营期补偿力度较小,私人部门公平偏好与其初始决策投资呈正比;第二阶段确定补偿力度时,政府承诺收入率与私人部门期望收入率之差超过其参照点时,若私人部门公平偏好越高,要求政府最优运营期补偿力度越大,项目最优投资规模亦越大。研究结果可为公共文化 PPP 项目的补偿设计提供理论依据。     

Reasonable concession period for build-operate-transfer road projects in the Philippines

This paper provides a methodology to determine the reasonable concession period that would be advantageous both to the government and the private sector with the impact of risks taken into consideration in the financial evaluation using Monte Carlo simulation and bargaining game theory. The simulation produced a range of concession period for the private sector and government to negotiate. Bargaining game theory was employed in an attempt to find a specific concession period. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology, two Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) road projects in the Philippines were used as case studies. The resulting concession period was found to be longer than the actual concession period granted to the private sector indicating the impact of risks in the cash flow. With the proposed methodology, the government could further enhance its policies in processing BOT projects with the end in view of increasing private sector participation in infrastructure development.     

旧概念与新环境(八):洛克的“自由”

洛克的政治理论是英语文明主流,强调个人自由,认为私产是自由的保障,而保护私产是政府的主要职能。城市规划以公益名义约束私产,但在自由社会中,公益只可来自政治博弈,因此纷争不断。本文以区划法的公安权力去演绎在洛克式个人自由之下私利与公益的死结。结论是,中国应坚持土地产权国有。     

Developing Regional Regimes: A Comparison of Two Metropolitan Areas

Abstract: The author relates tenets of urban regime theory to the major elements of new regionalism. He develops a framework of government and private sector structures and factors that facilitate the development of regional governing regimes. He categorizes these structures and elements as high, medium, or low according to the extent to which they facilitate or hinder the development of regional regimes. This framework is used in an analysis of new regionalism in the Pittsburgh and Chicago regions. The author concludes that the Pittsburgh region's private sector regime development capacity is in the high category while its government capacity is in the medium category. The Chicago region's private sector regime development capacity is placed in the medium category while its government sector capacity is judged to be in the low category.     

基于私人融资方式的我国城市基础设施建设探析

首先分析了城市基础设施建设中采用私人融资方式的优势,然后探讨了英国政府在应用私人融资方式建设城市基础设施等公共项目所采取的政策和措施.在分析了我国基础设施项目面临的资金压力和建设管理薄弱等问题的基础上,本文提出了我国城市基础设施也可采用私人融资方式的设想,并就此提出了相关政策建议.     

PPP 模式在成都市保障性住房中的应用

为了从根本上解决成都市中低收入居民的居住问题,成都市政府近年来采取了多种措施试图对商品房地产市场进行有效调控,缓解政府部门公益性建设项目的融资压力,实现居者有其屋的目的。PPP（Public-Private-Partnership）模式是近年来广泛应用于基础设施建设融资领域的一种新型融资模式,本文对政府部门和私营企业双方在成都市保障性住房建设中应用PPP 模式的可行性及政府部门与私营企业合作融资建设的可行方式进行了分析,提出了应用中可能存在的问题并给出了相应建议,结果认为将PPP 模式应用于保障性住房融资可以达到公与私“双赢”,且有助于完善保障性住房制度。     

Private Developers and the Public Good: Can a Socially Constructed Market Deliver Quality Affordable Housing for Australian Cities?

Australian government housing policy relies on the private housing industry contributing to the supply of affordable and social housing in cities. However, the diminishing availability of suitable housing for many households raises the question of whether the private housing industry is interested in, or capable of, catering for this market segment. Engagement would require both inducements and regulation, partnerships with government and non-profit actors, and an alignment of attitudes regarding the need and responsibility for providing dwellings in housing sub-markets. This paper explores perceptions and strategies of actors regarding the role for the industry in the context of Melbourne.     

Open-Access and Institutional Repositories in Fire Literature

With the emergence of advanced Internet technologies, access to scientific literature is evolving at an unprecedented pace. While the number of peer-reviewed publications is growing exponentially, unpublished technical reports, dissertations and other forms of grey literature are becoming increasingly accessible for researchers across the world. Research organizations and universities are capitalizing on this opportunity, actively making their research available on the Internet. At the National Research Council, the Institute for Research in Construction ensures that all fire-related literature produced is stored in an Institutional Repository and posted on the Web in a freely available manner. In doing so, this system has provided fire researchers with a vehicle to improve visibility of their research, having pronounced advantages. For the fire community, the material is an excellent source of scholarly articles, reports, technical data and conference papers. A close examination of the Institute’s fire-related literature in Google Scholar reveals citation patterns which illustrate the value of open-access, free literature to fire researchers.     

The option value of government guarantees in infrastructure projects

The participation of private capital in public infrastructure investment projects has been sought by many governments who perceive this as a way to overcome budgetary constraints and foster economic growth. For some types of projects, this investment may require government participation in the form of project guarantees in order to reduce the risk to the private investor, and as a consequence, the government assumes a contingent liability which may have significant future budgetary impacts. We present a minimum traffic guarantee (MTG) real options model that differs from most of the literature in the field by using market data to determine stochastic project parameters. This model can be used to assess the value of these guarantees, allows the government to analyse the cost–benefit of each level of support, and proposes an alternative to limit the exposure of the government while still maintaining the benefits to the private investor. We apply this model to the projected 1000 mile long BR‐163 toll road that will link the Brazilian Midwest to the Amazon River. We conclude that the use of public–private partnerships (PPP) with guarantees and caps on total government outlays can be modelled effectively using option pricing methods and can be a solution to attract private investment to high risk public infrastructure projects.     

Agency costs in public transport systems: Net-cost contracting between the transport authority and private operators - impact on passengers

Drawing on an agency theory approach, this paper examines conflict of interests and the resulting agency costs in the provision of urban public transport services in Istanbul's public transport system, particularly the private bus and minibus operators' relationship with local government. The agency problem in Istanbul's urban mobility system shows itself most explicitly in private bus and minibus operators because of the net-cost (NC) contract model in place. The private bus and minibus operators' relationship with local government is examined as a case study of agency relationships. Conceptually, government transport authorities and transport operators, together with the passengers, are the main actors of this urban public transport system. They all have distinct needs, interests and requirements and interact with each other, all embedded in a specific institutional environment. Service quality provided by public transport operators depends on the positive interactions between these actors. Whereas passengers demand reliable, affordable, safe and comfortable mobility services, private bus and minibus operators aim to increase their revenue and maximise their profits. In contrast to this, government bus operators provide in-house bus services without much concern for profitability. Regulators or local authorities, on the other hand, are expected to set up an institutional environment where passengers' and operators' expectations are met in a satisfactory manner. Empirical analyses and interviews with key agents demonstrate that agency costs are shown to be the result of misaligned interests between the government transport authority and private operators that lead to reduced service quality in terms of safety, comfort, reliability and affordability. We conclude that the agency costs of current NC contracting on passengers in Istanbul has deficiencies and propose instead a performance-based gross-cost (PrGC) contracting model. PrGC contracting can alleviate agency costs by changing the incentives of operators where regulatory and financing mechanisms are not enough to handle NC contracting. Istanbul represents some transferable lessons and implications, especially for developing cities around the world.     

Private Rental Housing in Hong Kong

This paper examines selected aspects of housing policy and its influence on private rental housing in Hong Kong. Its ambitions are modest, in part because so little research has been conducted on the sector, as a consequence of the small size of the sector as well as the concentration of socio-political, economic and policy analyses on the other major housing sectors, namely public renting and home ownership. It is argued that a fundamental function of private renting, to provide a functional substitute and counter-balance to distortions in the market for private home ownership, has been systematically undermined in Hong Kong. In spite of its historical importance in meeting Hong Kong people's housing needs, the sector's decline has been steep and it can now be fairly described as a marginalised tenure, despite incomplete structural adjustment post- Asian Financial Crisis. It is suggested that a fundamental reason for the decline of the private rental sector has been the impact of government policy, which undermined the private rental sector and thus an important element of the market mechanism in housing provision. The government's ideology of home ownership has also functioned to transfer lower middle-income families into the owner occupied sector. Although the Hong Kong government has not been as overtly hostile to this sector as governments have been elsewhere, it nevertheless also seems to envisage no real role for the private rental sector in a housing delivery system molded by policy preference for home ownership, rather than fostering viable economic competition by also facilitating an efficient private rental sector.     

江中集团本草天工实验楼

这是一个坐落在山地上的中医药研究所，也是药谷的重要组成部分。本方案院落式的平面布局，给研究人员创造有山有水的氛围。由于造价原因，本方案构造、材料、色彩等一切从简。     

基于公私共生的公共工程采购模式

随着基础设施建设的发展,公共工程的采购模式也不断创新。将共生理论引入公私合作模式中,把政府与私营方视为系统两个独立的方面,对照共生模式中的基本类型,将政府与私营方之间的合作关系视为非对称互惠模式。文章通过博弈论分析了政府和私营方在共生模式下如何达到帕累托最优状态;运用价值网对政府与私营方的价值流进行分析,研究了政府与私营方共生的内在机理。文章通过能量损耗与共生能量的分配原则,提出了政府与私营方之间风险分担和利益分配的概念模型。