Cost reduction was the key benefit claimed by privatization. We conduct a review of all
published econometric studies of water and waste production since 1970. Little support is …

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 …

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

Polycentric theory, as applied to sustainability policy adoption, contends that municipalities
will act independently to provide public services that protect the environment. Our multilevel …

Empirical evidence shows local government contracting is a dynamic process that includes
movements from public delivery to markets and from market contracts back to in-house …

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 …

Over the past 30 years, accelerating change has been one of the defining attributes of rural
landscapes around the world. In response, there has been an increasing volume of rural …

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 …