IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jecprf/v11y2008i1p45-65.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reforming the local public sector: economics and politics in privatization of water and solid waste

Author

Listed:
  • Germà Bel
  • Xavier Fageda

Abstract

Several empirical studies have analyzed the factors that influence local privatization. We examine the influence of transaction costs and political factors on local governments’ choices through new variables. We consider two relevant services accounting for different amounts of transaction costs: water and solid waste delivery. Our results show that privatization is less common for water, which has higher transaction costs. Furthermore, we find that municipalities with a conservative ruling party privatize more often regardless of the ideological orientation of the constituency. Finally, we find that intermunicipal cooperation may be a suitable organizational form for some municipalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2008. "Reforming the local public sector: economics and politics in privatization of water and solid waste," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 45-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jecprf:v:11:y:2008:i:1:p:45-65
    DOI: 10.1080/17487870802134884
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17487870802134884
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/17487870802134884?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Levin & Steven Tadelis, 2010. "Contracting For Government Services: Theory And Evidence From U.S. Cities," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 507-541, September.
    2. Antonio Miralles, 2005. "Political economy of municipal water service privatization in Spain: a duration model analysis," Working Papers in Economics 133, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pérez-López, Gemma & Prior, Diego & Zafra-Gómez, José Luis & Plata-Díaz, Ana María, 2016. "Cost efficiency in municipal solid waste service delivery. Alternative management forms in relation to local population size," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(2), pages 583-592.
    2. Bel Germà & Fageda Xavier & E. Mildred, 2014. "Is private production of public services cheaper than public production? A meta-regression analysis of solid waste and water services," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 103-140.
    3. Juri Demuth & Hans W. Friederiszick & Steffen Reinhold, 2022. "Reverse Privatization as a Reaction to the Competitive Environment: Evidence from Solid Waste Collection in Germany," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 60(2), pages 217-261, March.
    4. Pierce, Gregory & Gmoser-Daskalakis, Kyra, 2021. "Multifaceted intra-city water system arrangements in California: Influences and implications for residents," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Coluccia, Benedetta & Barbieri, Roberta & Palmi, Pamela & Natale, Francesco, 2024. "Public ownership and ESG policies: implications for firm productivity in local transportation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Germà Bel & Mildred E. Warner, 2016. "Factors explaining inter-municipal cooperation in service delivery: a meta-regression analysis," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 91-115, April.
    7. Halstead, John M. & Mohr, Robert D. & Deller, Steven C., 2010. "Service Delivery in Rural Municipalities: Privatize, Cooperate, or Go It Alone?," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 60991, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda & Melania Mur, 2011. "Why do municipalities cooperate to provide local public services? An empirical analysis," IREA Working Papers 201118, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Oct 2011.
    9. Juri Demuth & Hans W. Friederiszick & Steffen Reinhold, 2018. "Reverse privatization as a reaction to the competitive environment: Evidence from solid waste collection in Germany," ESMT Research Working Papers ESMT-18-02_R1, ESMT European School of Management and Technology, revised 05 Oct 2021.
    10. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2008. "Privatization and competition in the delivery of local services: An empirical examination of the dual market hypothesis," Working Papers XREAP2008-04, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Apr 2008.
    11. Michal Struk & Eduard Bakoš, 2021. "Long-Term Benefits of Intermunicipal Cooperation for Small Municipalities in Waste Management Provision," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    12. Mahavadi Dhanshyam & Samir K. Srivastava, 2021. "Governance structures for public infrastructure projects: Public–private management regimes, contractual forms and innovation," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 652-668, August.
    13. Juan Carlos Garrido-Rodríguez & Gemma Pérez-López & José Luis Zafra-Gómez & Diego Prior, 2018. "Estimación de la eficiencia a largo plazo en servicios públicos locales mediante fronteras robustas con datos de panel," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 226(3), pages 11-36, September.
    14. Amir HEFETZ & Mildred E. WARNER, 2010. "Dynamics of service provision: service, market and place characteristics," Departmental Working Papers 2010-33, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    15. Ana Elena IOSIF, 2014. "Public - private interdependence: an effective tool in water supply services," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 2(33), pages 19-35, November.
    16. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda & Melania Mur, 2010. "¿Por qué se privatizan servicios en los municipios (pequeños)? Evidencia empírica sobre residuos sólidos y agua," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 192(1), pages 33-58, March.
    17. Andrés Picazo-Tadeo & Francisco González-Gómez & Jorge Wanden-Berghe & Alberto Ruiz-Villaverde, 2012. "Do ideological and political motives really matter in the public choice of local services management? Evidence from urban water services in Spain," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 215-228, April.
    18. Amir Hefetz & Mildred E Warner & Eran Vigoda-Gadot, 2012. "Privatization and Intermunicipal Contracting: The US Local Government Experience 1992–2007," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(4), pages 675-692, August.
    19. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & R. Richard Geddes, 2012. "“Recovery Risk and Labor Costs in Public-Private-Partnerships: Contractual Choice in the U.S. Water industry”," IREA Working Papers 201222, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2012.
    20. Shu-Hen Chiang, 2014. "The dilemma of "Twin Cities": is the suburban dependence hypothesis applicable?," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 149-163, June.
    21. Jose-Luis Zafra-Gómez & Germán López-Pérez & Marta Garrido-Montañés & Elisabeth Zafra-Gómez, 2023. "Cost Efficiency in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Different Alternatives in Service Delivery for Small and Medium Sized Spanish Local Governments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xavier Fageda & Germa Bel, 2008. "Local privatization, intermunicipal cooperation,transaction costs and political interests: Evidence from Spain," IREA Working Papers 200804, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Apr 2008.
    2. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2009. "Factors explaining local privatization: a meta-regression analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 105-119, April.
    3. Germa Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2008. "Reforming the local public sector: economics and politics in privatization of water and solid waste," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 45-65.
    4. David Martimort & Flavio Menezes & Myrna Wooders & ELISABETTA IOSSA & DAVID MARTIMORT, 2015. "The Simple Microeconomics of Public-Private Partnerships," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(1), pages 4-48, February.
    5. Anna Matas & Ginés de Rus & Stef Proost & Salvador Bertoméu-Sánchez & Antonio Estache, 2018. "The Financing of Infrastructure / La financiación de las infraestructuras / El finançament de les infraestructures," IEB Reports ieb_report_1_2018, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    6. Mark Partridge & Tim Sass, 2011. "The productivity of elected and appointed officials: the case of school superintendents," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 133-149, October.
    7. Bertacchini, Enrico & Dalle Nogare, Chiara, 2014. "Public provision vs. outsourcing of cultural services: Evidence from Italian cities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 168-182.
    8. Jean Beuve & Marian W. Moszoro & Stéphane Saussier, 2019. "Political contestability and public contract rigidity: An analysis of procurement contracts," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 316-335, April.
    9. David, Guy & Chiang, Arthur J., 2009. "The determinants of public versus private provision of Emergency Medical Services," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 312-319, March.
    10. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Joan Calzada, 2010. "Urban transport governance reform in Barcelona," IREA Working Papers 201009, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jun 2010.
    11. Philippe Gagnepain & Marc Ivaldi & David Martimort, 2013. "The Cost of Contract Renegotiation: Evidence from the Local Public Sector," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2352-2383, October.
    12. Bergman, Mats A. & Johansson, Per & Lundberg, Sofia & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2016. "Privatization and quality: Evidence from elderly care in Sweden," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 109-119.
    13. Yarmukhamedov, Sherzod & Smith, Andrew S.J. & Thiebaud, Jean-Christophe, 2020. "Competitive tendering, ownership and cost efficiency in road maintenance services in Sweden: A panel data analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 194-204.
    14. García-Valiñas, María de los Ángeles & González-Gómez, Francisco & Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J., 2013. "Is the price of water for residential use related to provider ownership? Empirical evidence from Spain," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 59-69.
    15. Williamson, Oliver E., 2010. "Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 215-226.
    16. Johnson Emeka Nwofia, 2018. "Contracting Out Services in the Nigerian Local Government: Implications for Internal Revenue Generation," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(7), pages 71-83, July.
    17. Garg, Shresth & Ghosh, Pulak & Tan, Brandon Joel, 2023. "Within firm supply chains: Evidence from India," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    18. Haoyang Song & Jianhua Hou & Shiqi Tang, 2021. "From Contractual Flexibility to Contractor’s Cooperative Behavior in Construction Projects: The Multiple Mediation Effects of Ongoing Trust and Justice Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-21, December.
    19. González, Felipe & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2021. "Lost in transition? The persistence of dictatorship mayors," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Bennedsen, Morten & Schultz, Christian, 2011. "Arm's length delegation of public services," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 543-552.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jecprf:v:11:y:2008:i:1:p:45-65. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/GPRE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.