Tài liệu Evaluating the performance of investments in public sector

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY ---------------- ĐẶNG HẢI YẾN EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF INVESTMENTS IN PUBLIC SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF HIFU MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS HoChiMinh City - 2010 1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY ---------------- ĐẶNG HẢI YẾN EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF INVESTMENTS IN PUBLIC SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF HIFU Major: Business Administration Major Code: 60.34.05 MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Minh Kiều Ho Chi Minh City - 2010 i Acknowledgement I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and deepest appreciation to my research Supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Minh Kieu for his precious guidance, share of experience, ceaseless encouragement and highly valuable suggestions throughout the course of my research. I would like to thank to many of my collegues from HIFU, who have helped me during the collection of data as well as support me during doing research: Ms. Ngo Kim Lien, Dr. Vuong Duc Hoang Quan from Board of Director, Ms. Le Thi Tam Tam, Ms. Pham Thi Minh Ngoc, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan, and my other collegues from Departments of Accounting as well as Entrusted Fund Management, Planning, Human Resource Management and Appraisal. My special gratitude is extended to all instructors and staff at Faculty of Business Administration and Postgraduate Faculty, University of Economics HoChiMinh City (UEH) for their support and the valuable knowledge during my study in UEH. I would also like to avail this opportunity to express my appreciation to Professor Nguyen Dong Phong, UEH Board of Directors for creating MBA program in English and Dr. Tran Ha Minh Quan for his support during the course. Specially, my thanks go to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung for his valuable and enthusiastic support for this research study and for his comments of English from early draft of my thesis. Last but not least, the deepest and most sincere gratitude goes to my beloved parents, my husband Mr. Nguyen Hung Long, my daughter Bao Tran and my son Duc Huy, for their boundless support, abundant love and encouragement throughout my period of study. I, therefore, dedicate this work as a gift to them all. ii Abstract Evaluating performance in public investment is still an issue in management. There has been greater emphasis placed on performance measurement in public investment. HIFU is an organization operating in public sector. This qualitative research examines HIFU current performance measurement and suggests an effectiveness performance measurement in public investment for HIFU. The new measurement including financial aspect and social aspect is more comprehensive, proper, and complete. The measurement is also applied to evaluate HIFU performance of public investment. Recommendations for related entities such as the Government, HCMC People’s Committee, and HIFU are suggested to improve the management of HIFU and funds like HIFU. Keywords: public investment; performance; performance measurement; public organization; effectiveness; efficiency; and Ho Chi Minh City Investment Fund for Urban Development. iii Contents Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................... i Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Contents ............................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... v List of Figures................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction to the study .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Rationale of the study : ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem statement:........................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Research objectives and questions:............................................................................... 4 1.3.1 Research objectives: ............................................................................................4 1.3.2 Research questions: .............................................................................................5 1.4 Scope and Limitations................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research method :......................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Implications of research................................................................................................ 7 1.7 Structure of the study :.................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2: Introduction to HIFU.................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Legal status of HIFU..................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Organizational structure................................................................................................ 9 2.4 Main business activities .............................................................................................. 11 2.4.1 Lending ..............................................................................................................11 2.4.2 Investment..........................................................................................................12 2.4.3 Trusted Fund management ................................................................................13 2.4.4 Authorized municipal bond issuance.................................................................13 2.4.5 Financial services...............................................................................................13 2.5 Monitoring and evaluation of outcomes/ results......................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Literature Review........................................................................................ 15 3.1 Public investment........................................................................................................ 15 3.2 The performance of the public organizations/funds ................................................... 15 3.3 Measuring the performance of the public organizations/funds................................... 18 3.4 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 22 Chapter 4: Research Methods ....................................................................................... 25 4.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 25 iv 4.2 Research Design.......................................................................................................... 25 4.3 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 27 4.3.1 Document Collection .........................................................................................28 4.3.2 Personal Interviews............................................................................................29 4.4 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 33 4.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 5: Data Analysis and Findings ........................................................................ 36 5.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 36 5.2 Links between data analysis and research objectives and questions .......................... 36 5.3 The findings of data analysis ...................................................................................... 38 5.3.1 The current performance measurement of HIFU in public investments ...........38 5.3.2 Experiences of performance measurement in public investments.....................40 5.3.3 Expectations of performance measurement in public investments....................41 5.3.4 Objectives used to evaluate performance in public investments .......................42 5.3.5 Financial assessment..........................................................................................43 5.3.6 Social contribution.............................................................................................49 5.4 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 53 Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations .......................................................... 56 6.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 56 6.2 Conclusions related to research questions .................................................................. 56 6.2.1 Conclusions related to the first question............................................................56 6.2.2 Conclusions related to the second question .......................................................58 6.3 Recommendations of the research study..................................................................... 59 6.3.1 Recommendations for HIFU..............................................................................59 6.3.2 Recommendations for the goverment................................................................61 6.3.3 Recommendations for funder – HCMC People’s Committee ...........................62 6.4 Limitations and further research ................................................................................. 63 References........................................................................................................................ 64 Appendix.......................................................................................................................... 66 Guidance for indepth-interviews.................................................................................... 66 List of interviewees........................................................................................................ 68 Financial statements of 2008 and 2009.......................................................................... 69 v List of Tables Table 4. 1 Questionnaire for interview ............................................................................. 31 Table 5. 1 The planned and actual lending and direct investment from 2004 to 2009..... 39 Table 5. 2 Liquidity ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009 ................................................... 43 Table 5. 3 Leverage ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009 ................................................... 44 Table 5. 4 Efficiency ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009 ................................................. 46 Table 5. 5 Profitability ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009............................................... 47 Table 5. 6 HIFU return on equity and market return from 2004 to 2009 ......................... 47 Table 5. 7 The percentage of actual lending and direct investment from 2004 to 2009... 51 vi List of Figures Figure 2. 1 Organization chart of HIFU............................................................................ 10 Figure 3. 1 The performance of public investment........................................................... 16 Figure 5. 1 The framework for evaluating HIFU performance ........................................ 37 Figure 5. 2 Liquidity ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009.................................................. 44 Figure 5. 3 Leverage ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009.................................................. 45 Figure 5. 4 Efficiency ratios of HIFU from 2004 to 2009 ................................................ 46 Figure 5. 5 HIFU ROE , RM, and RB from 2004 to 2009 ............................................... 48 Figure 5. 6 The percentage of actual lending and direct investment from 2004 to 2009 . 51 Figure 5. 7 Assessments on qualitative performance of HIFU......................................... 53 vii Abbreviations AFD: France Development Agency CII: HCMC Infrastructure Investment Joint-stock Company HIFU: Ho Chi Minh Investment Fund for Urban Development HCMC: Ho Chi Minh City HCMC PC: Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee LCI: Law on Credit Institutions MOF: Ministry of Finance PI: Public Investment SOEs: State Owned Enterprises USTDA: United States Technical Development Aid WB: World Bank WTO: World Trade Organization 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to the study 1.1 Rationale of the study : Public investment is considered as public expenditures that the government adds to the public physical capital stock. They include the building of infrastructure such as roads, ports, schools, hospitals, etc. The issue of whether public investment is effective is still a controversy. In both developed and less developed countries, one can speak of a crisis of the public sector. The main charge is that it is costly for what it delivers. Even though this particular charge is rarely supported by hard evidence it has to be taken seriously because of its impact on both policy makers and public opinion (Pestieau 2009). Private business and foreign organizations often participate in sectors that require less capital, less risk, higher profit, and short payback period because their objective is to get profit from their investment. Thus, fields such as welfare, infrastructure, education, health, etc. which require large capital, more risk, long payback capital are usually invested by the government - through government agents - to avoid the unbalance in the economy’s structure. Moreover, investing in public sector helping to increase the people’s standard of living, stably develop the economic growth and attract foreign investors are the government’s activities. The government has staked its political credibility on delivering significant and noticeable improvements to public services (Crawford et al. 2003). However, there has been considerable debate over the delivery of public services and the performance of the public sector organizations that deliver them. According to Micheli (2005), much of this debate has been based on performance information reported in performance league tables and performance targets against which public sector organizations are assessed. These targets and league tables, which are regularly debated by politicians and the media, are often criticized. There are many opinions arguing that investments in public sector don’t result in efficiency in aspect of finance because the projects in this sector need a large amount of capital and take a 2 long time of capital turnover, more risk, although there is no official research of this issue. One is used to hearing harsh statements about inefficient public services. It is not surprising to see public sector performance questioned. What is surprising is that what is meant by performance, and how it is measured, does not seem to matter much to either the critics or the advocates of the public sector (Pestieau 2009). On the other hand, due to globalization and liberalization of world markets, competition faced by the organizations has become more and more intensive and the pressure to perform better is unavoidable (Ong & Teh 2009). According to Greiling (2004), in recent years managing and measuring performance has been one of the key drivers in the reform of the public sector. Performance measurement may provide data on how effectively and efficiently public services are delivered. Evaluation encompasses efficiency (the ability to undertake an activity at the minimum cost possible) and also effectiveness (whether the activity is achieving the objectives which were set for it) (Carin & Good 2004). According to Moeti (2000), the importance of evaluating the performance of public sector goes beyond simply taking “good” evaluation as an end in itself, but rather as a means to an end. The outcome of the evaluation may result in either a change in the goals required of the organization, change in the organization’s procedures and methods, or change in the organization by the way of growth, reorganization, or reduction. In that line, Carin & Good (2004) suggested that evaluation makes an important contribution but not always “the answer”. Evaluation provides government officials, development managers, and civil society with better means for learning from past experience, improving service delivery, planning and allocating resources, and demonstrating results as part of accountability. In Vietnam, the government also issued Decision No. 224/2006/QDTTg on October 6, 2006 on the monitoring and evaluation of performance of state-owned enterprises, Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 115/2007/TTBTC on September 25, 2007 guiding a number of content on monitoring and 3 evaluating the performance of state-owned enterprises, under which "evaluating the performance of business is using criteria to determine the effectiveness and classify business”. Criteria for evaluating is the system of norms and standards used to determine performance and classify businesses comprehensively and objectively. Evaluating the performance of the business intended for classification and incentives to encourage on material and mental for business and management and administration of business operations effectively, handle in time for business and business management weaknesses. Ho Chi Minh City Investment Fund Urban Development (HIFU), a financial institution directly under the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) People's Committee, together with other local investment funds were expected to act as the entity oriented trade and attract private capital and invest in infrastructure projects urban-oriented recovery costs. HIFU is responsible for investing in the public sector such as construction of bridges, roads; building hospitals, schools under the objective programs of the city. In the period of integration, the investments in infrastructure, health care, education are the top concerns of the authorities of HCMC, contributing to attracting foreign investment, bettering living conditions, improving environment and upgrading the intellectual standards of the people. Many projects that HIFU finished in the past time contributed to fulfilling objective programs of HCMC. However, to date there has been limited research on evaluating the effectiveness of investments in public sector in Vietnam in general and of HIFU in particular. Conducting such research will enable public organizations not just to enhance efficiency of investments in public sector, but also to encourage private sector and non-state economic sectors to participate in this sector under suitable forms so as to gradually decrease the list of works with 100 percent of state capital. Moreover, more importantly, it raises awareness of the performance measurement in the public sector. 4 1.2 Problem statement: According to the route of entering WTO, from the end of the year 2007, Vietnam opened the financial market. Foreign banks and financial institutions are allowed to operate completely in Vietnam. The competition of investment market is increasingly strict. On the other hand, owing to global economic crisis, Vietnam doesn’t avoid the influence from that crisis. As a consequence, the government is having policies to tighten public investments, especially inefficient projects, pursuant to Decision No. 390 of the Prime Minister. Assessing the performance of public investments is necessarily indispensable in the period and HIFU is the case at point, especially when HIFU to be a HCMC’s financial corporation and of the whole country. In addition, HIFU is a pilot model of the public organization operating under the objective programs of the local. The results from the evaluating performance of HIFU can be used to refer to other investment funds in the country. Finally, evaluating the performance of HIFU results in finding out the scientific base to enhance effectiveness of investments in the public sector. In summary, the problem that public sector organizations in Vietnam in general and HIFU in particular face appears to be that how effectiveness of investments in public sector. Therefore, the problem to be addressed in this research is to evaluate the performance of HIFU investments in public sector, and then, to recommend for its improvement in the future. 1.3 Research objectives and questions: 1.3.1 Research objectives: A research objective is the researcher’s version of a business problem. Objectives explain the purpose of the research in measureable terms and define standards of what the research should accomplish (Zikmund 1997). In solving the research problem this study has the following objectives : 5 - To identify the appropriate method to evaluate the performance of HIFU investments in public sector - To evaluate the effectiveness of HIFU investments in public sector - To contribute to knowledge of the effectiveness of investments in public sector. 1.3.2 Research questions: Research questions involve the research translation of “problem” into the need for inquiry (Zikmund 1997). The research problem defined above leads to the following research questions: - Which is the appropriate method to evaluate the performance of HIFU investments in public sector? - How effective are HIFU’s investments in public sector? 1.4 Scope and Limitations Investment in public sector and effectiveness are very large fields. The study looks for the scientific knowledge to improve effectiveness of investments in public sector, particularly the case of HIFU. Thus, the study is limited to the case of HIFU and regulations are imposed by Vietnam law. 1.5 Research method : In choosing a research design, Zikmund (1997) discusses three types of business research: exploratory, descriptive and causal research. • Exploratory research is usually conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem. • Descriptive research is designed to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon. • Causal research is conducted to identify cause-and-effect relationships among variables where the research problem has already been narrowly defined. 6 Choosing a type of research depends upon the research questions that the researcher wants to answer. This research study is designed to investigate HIFU investments, evaluate the performance of HIFU investments and identify the extent of the effectiveness of HIFU investments. Thus, “exploratory” was viewed as an appropriate research type. In summary, the exploratory research has been chosen for this research. An exploratory research technique that intensively investigates one or a few situations similar to the researcher’s problem situation is case study method, and in this research, it is used to obtain information to the research problem. Selecting research design is the next step after choosing type of research. There are four types of research design from which to select: survey, experiments, observation and secondary data (Zikmund 1997). Selection of research design is based on the advantages and disadvantages of each kind of research designs and circumstances in which the research problem is defined. In this research, survey, and secondary data methods are used in combination. Survey was chosen as a research technique in this study to investigate and describe the performance of HIFU public investments and identify the appropriate performance measurement of HIFU public investments. Questionnaires were designed and directly asked to interviewees to collect data related to HIFU public investments and identify the appropriate performance measurement of HIFU public investments. The argument for choosing survey was twofold. Firstly, surveys provide quick, efficient and accurate means of assessing information about the population. Secondly, surveys are more appropriate in cases where there is lack of secondary data. The secondary data method was used to investigate the performance of investments in public sector. The variables such as liquidity ratios, financial leverage ratios, efficiency ratios, and profitability ratios are derived from financial statements. These financial statements are available from accounting department of HIFU and from other financial organizations directly. 7 1.6 Implications of research Evaluating the performance of public organizations is the answer for the debate between the advocates and critics of investments in public sector. On the other hand, the findings are not just to help enhancing effectiveness of HIFU investments in public sector, but also to encourage HIFU increasing activities in this sector. Consequently, the findings urge the private sector and non-state economic sectors to participate in the public sector. Finally, it raises HIFU awareness of the performance measurement in the public sector. 1.7 Structure of the study : This research is structured into 6 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the research including research background, research problem, research objectives, and research questions. Chapter 2 introduces to HIFU. Chapter 3 provides a literature review of measures to evaluate the performance of investments in public sector. Chapter 4 discusses methodology utilized in the research. Chapter 5 analyses the data collected and presents the findings of the research. Chapter 6 points out conclusions and recommendations of the research. 8 Chapter 2: Introduction to HIFU 2.1 Introduction Ho Chi Minh City Investment Fund for Urban Development (HIFU) was established in 1996 as a pilot program intended to mobilize capital for urban development investment outside of the state budget pursuant to a decision of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) dated 10 September 1996 with a charter capital of VND 500 billion, to be provided by Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). While there are other similar funds operating in Vietnam, HIFU is the only one established pursuant to a Decision of the Prime Minister; all of the other twenty three similar funds were established pursuant to actions of the People’s Committees of the cities or provinces where such funds are located. As an entity 100% owned by HCMC, HIFU is a state financial institution operating under regulations passed by the Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee following the approval of the Minister of Finance (MOF). HIFU disburses and repays funds entrusted to it by HCMC; lends to urban infrastructure projects, and makes direct investments, taking stakes of up to 20% or more in joint stock companies involved in socio-economic infrastructure. City Infrastructure Company (CII) is one such company founded in 2001, which operates transportation and other projects under such arrangements as Build-Transfer (BT) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT). From 2003 up to now, HCMC has issued municipal bonds with the proceeds being used by HIFU for various infrastructure projects. Through its borrowing from financial institutions, HIFU is providing additional capacity to finance infrastructure. HIFU purpose is to mobilize capital to invest in the development of infrastructure projects and other urban developments in HCMC as requested by the HCMC People’s Committee. 2.2 Legal status of HIFU HIFU is neither a bank nor a non-bank financial institution as defined in the Law on Credit Institutions (LCI), which took effect on October 1, 1998. As 9 a state-owned entity directly under the management of the HCMC People’s Committee, it has a legal status that is unusual but not unique, as up to date, there are 24 such funds operating in Vietnam. While HIFU operates under the authority of the HCMC People’s Committee and not under the direct control of MOF, certain aspects of its operation and those of other provincial development funds are governed by MOF. Specifically their financial management is governed by MOF Circular 43 and accounting policies by MOF Circular 78. HIFU establishment under a decision of the Prime Minister does not provide clarity about its legal status, and does not provide clarity about the regulatory framework within which it should operate. HIFU is not governed by the law on banks and financial institutions or the law on private enterprises or the law on state owned enterprises (SOEs). This lack of legal clarity makes HIFU difficult to evaluate its performance in public investment. In order for HIFU to be able to better perform tasks assigned by the HCMC People’s Committee through the process of evaluation as well as the findings from the evaluation, HIFU will need to operate as presently structured while waiting for a new legal framework to be approved that would apply to all HIFU-like funds. 2.3 Organizational structure As local institution, the Fund is directly under the authority of the People’s Committee of HCMC. The Fund’s organizational structure includes the Board of Management, Controller Section, General Director, Deputy General Directors, and several technical departments (See Figure 2.1). In order to ensure the managerial autonomy, HIFU is legally made distinct from municipal technical departments by placing it under an independent board of management. According to the Charter, the Fund’s Board of Management has seven to nine members from heads of government departments. Currently, the Board has six members who are representatives from HCMC Institute for Economic Research, Department of Finance, Department of Planning and 10 Investment, and Branch Office of the State Bank of Vietnam. Other board members are General Director and the Chief of the Controller Section. Figure 2. 1 Organization chart of HIFU HCMC People’s Committee Board of Management Controller Section General Director Deputy General Director Trusted Fund Dept Appraisal Dept Deputy General Director Investment Dept HR Dept Deputy General Director Accounting Dept Credit Dept Deputy General Director Planning & Promotion Dept Office The Board is responsible for approving budgets and corporate plans, capital mobilization strategies, investments, major procurements and sales of assets, monitoring performance and advising management, and approving major changes in the Fund’s policies vis-à-vis personnel, marketing, internal. The Controller Section is to oversee and inspect the operating activities of the General Director, Chief Accountant, technical departments with regards to compliance with the law, the Fund’s charter and regulations, financial norms, resolutions and decisions made by the Board of Management. It has to make annual reports to the Board of Management on the activities of monitoring and controlling. At the same time, it has to report to the Board of Management all unusual activities, possibilities of operating losses or abuse of power committed by the management. The Fund’s General Director is responsible for the management of day-to-day operations, making financial plans and budgets 11 and for making quarterly, six-month and annual reports, and formulating the long-term corporate plan. 2.4 Main business activities 2.4.1 Lending Utilizing HIFU capital or syndicated loans with other financial institutions, HIFU has committed to lending to targeted programs and key projects of developing socio – economy infrastructure and Ho Chi Minh City’s economy, which are considered generating sound revenue for loan repayment and capital pay-back. In projects financed by syndicated loans, HIFU has often been the loan manager. From 1997 to 2009, HIFU has provided loans to about 175 projects of various field categories. In addition to using HIFU capital, HIFU has raised funds through syndicating loans with other financial institutions to finance infrastructure projects in Ho Chi Minh City, especially focusing on following main groups of projects: • Transportation: These are capital-intensive projects. Focusing on projects of constructing and rehabilitating key traffic routes to solve traffic jam in the City (Dien Bien Phu St., Hung Vuong St., Phu My Bridge, Provincial Roads 15 & 25 and other projects of road and bridge construction), and public means of transportation (buses). Total lending amount to this project category which HIFU provides is VND 2,538 billion. Lending to transport projects accounts for 34.52% of total HIFU lending for the period 1997 to date. • Water: Total lending amount to this project category which HIFU provides is VND 341 billion. Lending to water projects accounts for 4.64% of total HIFU lending for the period 1997 to date. • Residential areas, Industrial parks: These are projects under the planning and new constructing program of Ho Chi Minh City such as