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1 – 3 of 3Nicola Dempsey, Mel Burton and Johanna Selin
Different models have been adopted in England over time to organise public service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore contracting-out, a prevalent model of public…
Abstract
Purpose
Different models have been adopted in England over time to organise public service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore contracting-out, a prevalent model of public service delivery in England, in relation to parks and roads maintenance delivery by examining private contractors’ performance according to local authority stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Since the Conservative Government was in power during the 1980s, local authorities have been an arena for experimentation of contracting-out to private and other sectors. This paper provides a review of the academic and grey literature, and findings are presented from a large-scale online questionnaire survey (n=103) which was distributed to the relevant public realm managers in English local authorities.
Findings
The paper shows that contracting-out of parks and roads maintenance happens across the country in different ways. By and large, local authorities are satisfied with the performance of contractors, particularly as a response to economic constraints. Responsibilities, particularly for parks, are increasingly shared with non-governmental organisations, including community groups, although this is not reflected in budget distribution.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the efforts, the response rate was relatively low (32 per cent), potentially due to the e-mail communication and online nature of the questionnaire.
Originality/value
The research provides empirical evidence about how contracting-out is currently delivering public services and how it has changed in recent years. The findings suggest that responsibilities (and to a lesser extent, budgets) are increasingly shared in England between different combinations of public, private, third and community sector stakeholders. This marks a shift away from in-house public sector delivery of parks and roads services.
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Morten Balle Hansen and Andrej Christian Lindholst
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the IJPSM special issue on marketization to clarify the conceptual foundations of marketization as a phenomenon within the public sector…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the IJPSM special issue on marketization to clarify the conceptual foundations of marketization as a phenomenon within the public sector and gauge current marketization trends based on the special issue’s seven papers.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual clarification and cross-cutting review of seven papers analysing marketization in six countries in three policy areas at the level of local government.
Findings
Four ideal-types models are deduced: quasi-markets involving both provider competition and free choice for users; classical contracting out; benchmarking and yardstick competition; and public-private collaboration. Based on the review of the seven papers, it is found that all elements in all marketization models are firmly embedded but also under dynamic change within public service delivery systems. The review also identifies limitations and modifications of the four ideal-type models. A key trend is a move towards public-private collaboration and cross-sectorial and inter-organizational governance arrangements.
Research limitations/implications
Continued research on marketization would benefit from development of more fine-tuned theoretical models which are sensitive to the realm of the dynamics within particular policy and institutional contexts.
Practical implications
Policy-makers should balance normative objectives against the experiences gained at the level of implementation.
Originality/value
The special issue shows that marketization still is a concurrent phenomenon which is driving substantial change in public service delivery systems as well as is under dynamic change itself.
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Ylva Norén Bretzer, Bengt Persson and Thomas Barfoed Randrup
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent contracting out practices has led to perceived resource cuts in the Swedish park and road sectors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent contracting out practices has led to perceived resource cuts in the Swedish park and road sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
E-survey sent to managers in park and technical departments in the municipalities. Response rate: 39.7 percent.
Findings
Decreased costs were found in 25 percent of the responding road departments, in 20 percent of park departments. 49 percent of the road departments responded “no change” or “increase” (48 percent parks). Findings indicate that tendering practices tend to be most commonly centered in Swedish municipalities situated in the three metropolitan regions (Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö with suburbs), while such practices are not as common in mid-sized and rural municipalities. In addition, contracting out practices correspond with higher per capita budgets, not with smaller.
Research limitations/implications
The research implications are that contracting out tend to occur “where the resources are,” while poorer municipalities either have to contract even if it is more expensive, or, contracting out is combined with other provision models. The limitation of the data are that it based on managers’ perceptions, while hard data have been impossible to map.
Practical implications
The uniform assumption that contracting out saves public resources need to be conditioned with context, and initial resources at hand. Contracting out is one option among several possible strategies, especially for mid-sized and smaller municipalities with small budgets.
Social implications
The rationalities of local government procurements are bounded by the local market situations and local the budget capacities.
Originality/value
This is the first study of manager’s perceptions in the Swedish park and road contexts.
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