IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/annpce/v74y2003i1p33-61.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Opening up Public Services to Competition by Putting Them Out to Tender: An Evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • P. Bance

Abstract

This article examines the effects of systematizing tendering procedures when awarding public service concessions. The opening up of the water supply industry to competition is used by way of illustration. Results show that arguments in favour of systematization are not robust when focusing solely on the expected benefits of the liberalization process. The peculiarities of the contract relationship in the delegation of public services, the mobilization of specific assets, and the long duration and incompleteness of the contracts invalidate this type of argument and expose public authorities to the opportunism of operators. The efficiency of awarding public services concessions relies on cost–benefit analysis, taking into account sectoral aspects as well as specificities of the contracting organizations and structures. The public service culture of these organizations is in this respect a key factor in the choice of efficient organizations since it conditions their ability to internalize the mission of fulfilling the public interest.

Suggested Citation

  • P. Bance, 2003. "Opening up Public Services to Competition by Putting Them Out to Tender: An Evaluation," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 33-61, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:annpce:v:74:y:2003:i:1:p:33-61
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8292.00214
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8292.00214
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8292.00214?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
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Bance, 2004. "Libéralisation et nouvelle gouvernance des services publics en réseau : crépuscule ou renouveau du « service public à la française » ?," Post-Print hal-01965186, HAL.
    2. Anne Yvrande‐Billon, 2006. "The Attribution Process Of Delegation Contracts In The French Urban Public Transport Sector: Why Competitive Tendering Is A Myth," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(4), pages 453-478, December.
    3. Gabriel OBERMANN, 2007. "The Role Of The State As Guarantor Of Public Services: Transaction Cost Issues And Empirical Evidence," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 78(3), pages 475-500, September.

    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:bla:annpce:v:74:y:2003:i:1:p:33-61. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1370-4788 .

    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.