For over two decades there have been attempts across many countries to reform the management of public services and substitute market based provision for bureaucracy. But while these changes have been pursed vigorously, doubts about their appropriateness, feasibility and effectiveness remain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate focusing on the specific case of social care markets in the UK. Drawing on ideas from institutional theory and a range of secondary sources it is argued that, in the UK, broad policy objectives of moving towards a mixed economy have been largely successful. However this review also points to costs associated with implementation and the reliance on low trust arms length contractual relations. Social care organisations are now seeking to manage these costs by attempting to move towards more collaborative networks, although the effectiveness of this change is open to question given prevailing institutional conditions in the UK.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Article provided by Ilades-Georgetown University, Economics Department in its journal Revista de Analisis Economico.
Volume (Year): 21 (2006) Issue (Month): 2 (December) Pages: 43-59 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML,
plain text,
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote),
ReDIF
Find related papers by JEL classification: D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs