Financial and Political Factors Motivating the Privatisation of Municipal Water Services
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors considered elements of long-term financial condition and ideological and political strength, together with other socioeconomic factors and the effects of the current global financial crisis, to address the financial stress-privatisation relationship, with respect to urban water services, observed during the period 2002-2012 in Spanish municipalities.
Abstract: Financial and political factors are widely considered to be an explanatory factor of the privatisation of public services. However, the empirical evidence in this respect is not convincing. This paper considers elements of long-term financial condition and ideological and political strength, together with other socio-economic factors and the effects of the current global financial crisis, to address the financial stress–privatisation relationship, with respect to urban water services, observed during the period 2002–2012 in Spanish municipalities. A discrete time survival model is applied, and the results obtained show that certain elements of financial condition, together with political and ideological factors, are decisive influences in decisions to privatise urban water services. We also highlight the major impact of the Great Recession and its effect on the financial stress–privatisation relationship.
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1,987 citations
TL;DR: The metafrontier approach is used to analyse the efficiency of different ways of managing waste collection services, in order to determine which form is more appropriate, and suggests that cooperation formulas are the most suitable for the waste collection service.
95 citations
TL;DR: The influence of fiscal stress, cost considerations, scale economies as well as transaction costs and political partisan interests on local privatisation has been investigated in many European countries in the last decade as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Scholarly empirical studies on factors that motivate local privatisation have greatly grown in the last decade. As well, having available better and more comprehensive databases and using more refined empirical techniques have made possible to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of local privatisation, particularly in many European countries. The influence of fiscal stress, cost considerations – scale economies as well as transaction costs – and political partisan interests is usually confirmed. Furthermore, ideological attitudes appear to be more influential than they seemed to be, particularly when considering social services, rather than the technical ones.
77 citations
Cites background or methods from "Financial and Political Factors Mot..."
...In the case of methodology, Geys and Sorensen (2016) exploit exogenous variation in municipality revenues, and Zafra-Gómez et al. (2014, 2016) use several variables simultaneously to provide measures of different dimensions of fiscal stress....
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...…Fageda, and Mur 2010; González-Gómez and Guardiola 2009; González-Gómez, Picazo-Tadeo, and Guardiola 2011; Picazo-Tadeo et al. 2012; Plata-Diaz et al., 2014; Zafra-Gómez et al. 2016) or several (Boggio 2016; Geys and Sorensen, 2016; Schoute, Budding, and Gradus Forthcoming; Zafra et al., 2014)....
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...…(2016), GonzálezGómez and Guardiola (2009), Fernandez, Ryu, and Brudney (2008), Hefetz, Warner and Vigoda-Gadot (2012), Petersen, Houlberg, and Christensen (2015), Picazo-Tadeo et al. (2012), Schoute, Budding, and Gradus Forthcoming, Sundell and Lapuente (2012) and Zafra-Gómez et al. (2014, 2016)....
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...…studies conducted for European countries, including Bhatti, Olsen, and Pedersen (2009), Plantinga, De Ridder, and Corra (2011), Plata Diaz et al. (2014), Schoute, Budding, and Gradus Forthcoming and Zafra-Gómez et al. (2014, 2016)., where an ideological bias is found in the privatisation decision....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed shifts in the delivery mode of waste collection in Dutch municipalities between 1999 and 2014 and found that 60% of the shifts were toward outsourced waste collection.
Abstract: This article analyzes shifts in the delivery mode of waste collection in Dutch municipalities between 1999 and 2014. In approximately half of these entities, shifts took place, with 60% toward outs...
53 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 2009
8,216 citations
"Financial and Political Factors Mot..." refers methods in this paper
...In this respect, logit and probit models are most often used (Greene 2008)....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: The second edition of Public Management Reform as mentioned in this paper provides an unparalleled synthesis of developments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, the USA, and the European Commission.
Abstract: Since its publication in 2000, Public Management Reform has established itself as the standard text in the field, presenting a comparative analysis of recent changes in Public Management and Public Administration in a range of countries in Europe, North America, and Australasia. This completely rewritten second edition radically expands, develops, and updates the original. Two countries have been added to the comparison (making twelve countries in all) and a much fuller treatment has been provided of the European Commission (including a commentary on the recent reforms led by Vice-President Kinnock). Empirical data has been brought up to date, so as to cover many key developments of the last few years. The theoretical framework of the book has been further developed, including a challenging new interpretation of the trends in continental Europe, which are seen here as markedly different from the Anglo-American style 'New Public Management'. This second edition provides an unparalleled synthesis of developments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, the USA, and the European Commission. It is organized in an integrated format, within an overall theoretical framework that identifies the main pressures for, and trajectories of, change. It includes a multi-dimensional analysis of the results of reform, and a chapter reflecting on the dynamic relationship between management reform and politics. Extensive appendices provide an invaluable information resource for students.
3,639 citations
1,987 citations
"Financial and Political Factors Mot..." refers background in this paper
...For Pollitt and Bouckaert (2000), quality is a priority goal for public managers....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a model in which the provider can invest in improving the quality of service or reducing the cost of providing a service in order to improve the quality or reduce the cost.
Abstract: When should a government provide a service inhouse and when should it contract out provision? We develop a model in which the provider can invest in improving the quality of service or reducing cost. If contracts are incomplete, the private provider has a stronger incentive to engage in both quality improvement and cost reduction than a government employee. However, the private contractor's incentive to engage in cost reduction is typically too strong because he ignores the adverse effect on non-contractible quality. The model is applied to understanding the costs and benefits of prison privatization.
1,382 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a model in which the provider can invest in improving the quality of service or reducing cost, and applied it to understand the costs and benefits of prison privatization, and found that if contracts are incomplete, the private provider has a stronger incentive to engage in both quality improvement and cost reduction than a government employee.
Abstract: When should a government provide a service in-house, and when should it contract out provision? We develop a model in which the provider can invest in improving the quality of service or reducing cost. If contracts are incomplete, the private provider has a stronger incentive to engage in both quality improvement and cost reduction than a government employee has. However, the private contractor's incentive to engage in cost reduction is typically too strong because he ignores the adverse effect on noncontractible quality. The model is applied to understanding the costs and benefits of prison privatization.
1,366 citations
"Financial and Political Factors Mot..." refers background in this paper
...However, the evidence for this is not conclusive, and private operators may seek only to reduce costs, and do so by lowering the quality of the services provided (Hart, Shleifer, and Vishny 1997)....
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