Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
progressive income tax
A tax system in which a higher percentage of income is
taxed the more a taxpayer earns. Put formally, the marginal tax rate exceeds the
average tax rate as income rises.
project partnering
An arrangement between the main contractor and the client
working together on a single project. It embraces a range of possibilities, but it
usually comes into effect after the contract for the project has been awarded. It
has been devised to overcome the adversarial relationships that typify traditional
construction contracts. It is designed to prevent contractors regarding a project
as a sequence of separate operations and making no long-term commitment to
its success.
public choice theory
A relatively new concept to mainstream economics that seeks
to explain how governments decide policy.
public goods
Goods for which the principles of exclusion and rivalry do not apply.
Public goods can be jointly consumed by many individuals simultaneously, at no
additional cost and with no reduction in the quality or quantity of the provision
concerned.
public (non residential)
A sector of the construction industry concerned with the
construction of roads, prisons, schools, etc. In short, public sector works other
than housing (see
Tables 1.3
and
1.4).
public private partnership
This is a particular type of contractual arrangement
between the public and private sector. Similar to PFI, the private sector is
allowed a role in financing, building and maintaining public sector facilities,
although the government retains a stake in the PPP company. In contrast to the
private finance initiative, under public private partnership arrangements the
government is not liable for a fixed stream of annual payments.
public sector
The simplest definition is all forms of ownership by central and local
government.
public sector net borrowing requirement (PSNBR)
This is a measure of the
public sector's annual financing requirement, covering the combined funding
requirement of both central and local government.
quantitative easing (QE)
The practice of a central bank buying financial assets with
the aim of increasing the reserves of commercial banks. In the simplest of terms,
it is electronically created money pumped into a financial system.
quasi-public goods
Goods or services which by their nature could be made available
for purchase by individuals, but which the state finds administratively more
convenient to provide for all the nation (such as roads).
rational-expectations hypothesis
A theory that suggests that individuals combine
all available information to form judgements about the future.
real values
Measurement of economic values after adjustments have been made for
inflation.
recession
A period of time during which the rate of growth of business activity is
consistently less than its long-term trend. Most commonly identified as two
consecutive negative quarters of GDP.
