Improving the criteria for evaluating public-private partnership projects in the field of creation and operation of physical culture and sports facilities

Subject. The article discusses methods for evaluating the effectiveness of public-private partnership projects in regard to creation and operation of physical culture and sports facilities. Objectives. The study aims at improving the criteria for selecting public-private partnership projects in the field of the creation and operation of physical culture and sports facilities to determine the feasibility of State financial support for them at the Federal level. Methods. We employed the cost–benefit comparison methodology and considered the effects for three main stakeholders, i.e. the users of sports infrastructure facilities, the budget system, and private investors. To assess external effects from the increase in the health capital of users of sports infrastructure facilities, we performed the regression analysis of data of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. Results. The paper unveils disproportions in the level of provision of Russian regions with sports infrastructure facilities; establishes that an increase in the provision of regions with sports infrastructure facilities leads to a statistically significant increase in the life expectancy of the population; demonstrates that regular non-professional sports contribute to enhancing the health capital, raising labor productivity, and wages. Conclusions. If used, the cost-benefit comparison methodology will improve the quality of projects selection for sports infrastructure facilities creation that are the most socially effective. It is necessary to consider differences in provision of regions with sports infrastructure facilities, when allocating federal subsidies to co-finance expenditure obligations of Russia's federal constituent entities under concession agreements and public-private partnership agreements.