The accounting and reporting of public—private partnerships (PPPs) is a matter of extensive debate and is associated with a compelling incentive to follow the PPP route for the construction of public infrastructures, rather than traditional public procurement, even if the PPP route is not affordable and fails to achieve value for money in comparison to traditional public procurement. The aim of this study is to empirically evaluate the so-called hidden debt hypothesis. Using a novel dataset for the Portuguese roads sector, we studied the annual reports of the operators since the adoption of International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) 12 from 2010 up until 2017. Our results show a lack of transparency in the reporting of PPPs in public accounts, as well as a material difference between our simulation of the impact of (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) IPSAS 32 in public accounts, and also the impact resulting from the application of the European System of Accounts, according to which official debt figures are calculated. The paper also presents evidence of the effects of the financial bailout on PPPs accounting. Overall, the results show that public debt is understated from 1.96% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 (3,519 million euros), to 3.99% of GDP in 2014 (6,907 million euros) and an average of 11,027 million euros of fixed assets for the period 2010–2017 are not reported in the Portuguese State Accounts. The results highlight the need for a closer alignment between national accounts and accrual accounting based on IPSAS standards.

中文翻译：

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公私伙伴关系对公共账户的影响：葡萄牙道路部门

公私合作伙伴关系 (PPP) 的会计和报告是一个广泛争论的问题，并且与遵循 PPP 路线建设公共基础设施而不是传统的公共采购有关，即使 PPP 路线不是与传统的公共采购相比，负担得起且无法实现物有所值。本研究的目的是对所谓的隐性债务假设进行实证评估。使用葡萄牙道路部门的新数据集，我们研究了自 2010 年至 2017 年采用国际财务报告解释委员会 (IFRIC) 12 以来运营商的年度报告。我们的结果显示在报告中缺乏透明度公众号，以及我们对（国际公共部门会计准则）IPSAS 32 在公共账户中的影响的模拟与应用欧洲账户体系所产生的影响之间存在重大差异，根据该体系计算官方债务数字。本文还提供了金融救助对 PPP 会计影响的证据。总体而言，结果显示公共债务被低估，从 2010 年占国内生产总值 (GDP) 的 1.96%（35.19 亿欧元）到 2014 年占 GDP 的 3.99%（69.07 亿欧元）和平均 110.27 亿欧元的固定资产2010-2017 年期间未在葡萄牙国家账户中报告。结果突出表明，国民账户和基于 IPSAS 标准的权责发生制会计之间需要更紧密地结合起来。