Understanding the data's scope of coverage is fundamental to its interpretation. In fact, when using this report, readers need to keep in mind both its strengths and its limitations. The project has the major advantage of the comparability of its data across the world's economies covered by the assessment, thanks to the use of standardized case scenarios with well-specified assumptions. By compiling more than 50 data points in a comparative manner, the report highlights relevant regulatory aspects for governments and firms engaging in PPP projects and helps governments identify well-defined areas of action and design reform agendas. The majority of the data points covered are based on the regulatory framework, which makes them "actionable"-as the law is well within the sphere of influence of policy makers and thus amenable to change.
Although this method has the advantage of transparency, it has one inevitable shortcoming: it is not feasible to design a case-study assumption that covers all possible PPP projects across the world's economies. Moreover, the data used to conduct this exercise were gathered during a specific time frame. This method reflects only the regulatory framework in force and general practice at that point. Data collection for Benchmarking PPP Procurement 2017 closed on March 31, 2016. Consequently, any regulatory reforms enacted and any practice adopted since that date are not taken into account in this year's edition.
Benchmarking PPP Procurement does not cover all the regulatory issues related to PPP procurement. The report does not measure some aspects of PPP frameworks that matter to firms, policy makers, and the overall development of the projects. For example, it does not attempt to capture a number of dimensions, such as macroeconomic stability or the prevalence and perception of corruption in an economy, despite their importance. It is complementary to other activities developed by the multilateral development banks (for example, Infrascope, which provides a broader assessment of the enabling framework for PPPs).