The Cost of Government and the Misuse of Public Assets

Tej Prakash and Vito Tanzi

No 2000/180, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: This paper deals with efficiency in the public sector. It argues that the habit of relating efficiency to public spending, as is generally done, may give wrong results when, as is often the case, public institutions use public assets (land, buildings, etc.) without imputing a cost for that use. The paper argues that, because of lack of incentives, governments are often wasteful in their use of publicly held assets. It recommends the creation of “cadastres” of publicly owned assets that could be used for several purposes including increasing public sector efficiency.

Keywords: WP; government; country; asset; government decision; national income; public assets; capital charges; efficiency in government; budget; cadastres of public assets; countries wonder; government policy; government land; governments of Australia; Public sector; Asset valuation; Financial statements; Budget planning and preparation; Australia and New Zealand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 21
Date: 2000-11-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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