This review article explores some of the key concepts, trends, and approaches in
contemporary urban governance research. Based on a horizon scan of recent literature and …

This article presents the results of a systematic review of international studies on economic
and quality effects of contracting out published in the period from 2000 to 2014. We …

Austerity and fiscal crisis make the search for cost‐saving reforms in local government more
critical. While cost savings from privatization have frequently proven ephemeral, inter …

Social impact bonds (SIBs) attract private investment to social programs by paying a market
rate of return if predefined outcome targets are met. SIBs monetize benefits of social …

Abstract Did New Public Management (NPM) actually lead to a smaller public sector? NPM
has been the subject of extensive academic debate as to its successes and failures …

Abstract Analysis of local government contracting decisions typically focuses on transactions
costs related to service characteristics, especially asset specificity and difficulty of contract …

Capturing the benefits of competition is a key argument for outsourcing public services, yet
public service markets often lack sufficient competition. The authors use survey and …

Inter-municipal cooperation is an important public service delivery reform, whose drivers
move beyond simple concerns with costs and economic efficiency, to policy issues related to …

With the increase in public services offered at the local level and heightened budgetary and
financial constraints on local government, new ways of managing local public services must …

Inter-municipal cooperation in public service delivery has attracted the interest of local
authorities seeking to reform public service provision. Cost saving, together with better …