Venture Capital and Later Stage Private Equity, Australia, 2008-09
Source: ABS 5678.0
The survey provides details of venture capital and later stage private equity activity from venture capital and later stage private equity fund managers. The information includes in broad terms fund commitments and drawdowns by source of funds, assets and liabilities of the venture capital and later stage private equity funds, financing flows between the funds and their investors and investee companies and the stage and industry characteristics of venture capital deals undertaken during the latest financial year.

Boulevard of broken dreams : why public efforts to boost entrepreneurship and venture capital have failed--and what to do about it [book]
Author: Josh Lerner
"When has governmental sponsorship succeeded in boosting growth, and when has it fallen terribly short? Should the government be involved in such undertakings at all? Boulevard of Broken Dreams is the first extensive look at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. Josh Lerner, one of the foremost experts in the field, provides valuable insights into why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and he offers suggestions for how public ventures should be implemented in the future." - cover.
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Call number: 338.04 BOU 2009

The right way to invest in infrastructure
by Michael Lind
from McKinsey Quarterly December 2009
Contact the library for a copy of this article.
"In the current debate about how to build a durable economic recovery, it’s welcome news that infrastructure spending is gaining attention. In a December 8 speech on jobs and economic growth, President Obama called for a boost in public investment in infrastructure—beyond what his earlier stimulus package included—to modernize the US transportation and communications networks. The president’s proposal reflects a consensus among economists that investment in infrastructure is one of the most effective ways to use government spending to promote economic activity. "

After the gold rush( journal article)
from The Economist, Vol 393 No 8661, 12.12.2009, pp.27-29
"The article focuses on Great Britain's National Health Service. The service's costs have risen significantly during the 2000s, and the country's large budget deficit means spending on it will likely not be increased. Managerial reforms creating increased internal competition within the service are examined."

The Private Finance Initiative (journal article)
By Anthony Wall and Ciaran Connolly
from Public Management Review Vol 11 Issue 5 Sept 2009, pp. 707 - 724
"This article considers the development of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and contends that it is now deeply embedded and intertwined in policies to renew and modernize the United Kingdom's public services. After briefly reviewing prior research based upon the themes proposed by Broadbent and Laughlin (1999), this article suggests a new research agenda to reflect how the PFI has matured and developed in recent years."

Government Subsidies for Professional Team Sports in Australia (journal article)
By John K. Wilson and Richard Pomfret
from Australian Economic Review Vol 42 Iss 3 2009, pp. 264 - 275
"Professional team sports represent an important aspect of Australian life. Interest is great, and a significant portion of household expenditure is directed toward sports-related goods and services. Based on international comparisons and on the size of attendance and television revenues, the sector should be highly profitable. Yet, significant amounts of public funding and regulatory exemptions are afforded to team sports in Australia. This article analyses the magnitude and reasons for government spending that subsidises professional team sports."

Queensland supports debt (journal article)
by John Arbouw
from Project Finance International, April 2009
"The Aspire Schools consortium has won the A$260m contract to build seven new schools in southeast Queensland and this will be the first project in Australia to use the supported debt model (SDM). About 70% of the post-construction financing requirements will be provided in the form of supported debt."
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Risky business in challenging times (journal article)
by Ryan Heath
from Griffith Review Autumn 2009
"...What the case demonstrates is that government funding can never be an answer on its own. Australia’s arts ‘scene’ or ‘industries’ also need to take risks. If they are not prepared to challenge the status quo – be it incumbent elites or conventional wisdom – or even give a chance to a newcomer, then they are not worth having. The story of All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane is repeated across the arts. It is echoed in the stories of new authors backed by publishers but ignored by the marketing department. It is a familiar theme for artists who use new media or cross official category boundaries, falling foul of the funding bodies for daring to colour outside the lines. And the lesson of All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane rings in the ears of every creative who goes bust because of a short‐term cash flow problem that good policy‐making could help avoid. "

Money well spent : a strategic plan for smart philanthropy [book]

Authors: Paul Brest & Hal Harvey

"Starting with the premise that strategy makes all the difference in effective giving, the book shows foundations and individual philanthropists the best way to design a strategy to achieve their stated philanthropic goals. Drawing on examples from many different foundations, the authors give philanthropists the framework necessary to harness expert knowledge in various sectors"--Provided by publisher.

Funding the practice of learning: exploring the relationship between funders and grant recipients (journal article)
by Sheila March et al.
from Evidence and Policy, Vol 4, No 4, November 2008, pp. 293-310
This article reviews the King's Fund's efforts to establish shared priorities for learning with grant applicants, to improve Londoners' health through community-level projects. The Fund used partnership working for its Partners for Health grant programme, an innovative framework contrasting with the typical, more narrow and limited, model for funding relationships. The related focus on learning required robust evaluation plans from grant applicants, based on the 'realistic evaluation' approach. This shift to grant-aid relationships based on partnership and learning produced varied reactions, and raises far-reaching issues about the challenges presented by partnership that feed into broader debates about the place of partnership in public services.

Value for Money in PFI Proposals: A Commentary on the UK Treasury Guidelines for Public Sector Comparators
By Andrew Coulson
from Public Administration Vol 86 Iss 2 June 2008, pp. 483–498
"The Private Finance Initiative (PFI), introduced to Britain in 1992, has become a major means of procuring public sector infrastructure. It involves long-term contracts whereby private sector suppliers construct and own capital assets and provide services for which they are paid on the basis of availability or use. This paper focuses on the early stages of a PFI procurement, the decision to use the PFI rather than any other form of procurement. In 2004 and 2006, the UK Treasury issued new Guidance as to how this should be done. There are two stages to this Guidance: qualitative and quantitative assessments. This paper comments on some of the key issues in the quantitative assessments: the treatment of risk, of residual and life-time costs, of tax, of rates of return and of the appropriate use of discounted flow techniques when finance is a constraint for an investing agency. "