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Competition and Costs: Evidence from Competitive Tendering in the Scottish National Health Service

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  • Robin G. Milne
  • Robert E. Wright

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of competitive tendering on cleaning costs in Scottish National Health Service hospitals. Unlike previous studies, which have relied on cross‐sectional data, a five‐year balanced panel of 176 hospitals is used to estimate a series of fixed effects regression models. These panel estimates suggest that previous studies have likely over‐estimated the cost‐savings associated with competitive tendering. The findings also suggest that the lower costs associated with competitive tendering have more to do with auction theory than with any intrinsic efficiency of the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Robin G. Milne & Robert E. Wright, 2004. "Competition and Costs: Evidence from Competitive Tendering in the Scottish National Health Service," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(1), pages 1-23, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:51:y:2004:i:1:p:1-23
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0036-9292.2004.05101001.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gomez-Lobo, Gomez-Lobo & Szymanski, Szymanski, 1997. "A Law of Large numbers: Bidding and competitive tendering for refuse collection contracts," IFS Working Papers W97/09, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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    4. Milgrom, Paul, 1989. "Auctions and Bidding: A Primer," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 3-22, Summer.
    5. McAfee, R Preston & McMillan, John, 1987. "Auctions and Bidding," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 699-738, June.
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    7. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    8. Paul Klemperer, 1999. "Auction Theory: A Guide to the Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 227-286, July.
    9. Kenneth Hendricks & Harry J. Paarsch, 1995. "A Survey of Recent Empirical Work Concerning Auctions," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 28(2), pages 403-426, May.
    10. Simon Domberger & Stephen Rimmer, 1994. "Competitive Tendering and Contracting in the Public Sector: A Survey," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 439-453.
    11. Klemperer, Paul, 1999. " Auction Theory: A Guide to the Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 227-86, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angeles, Luis & Milne, Robin G., 2015. "Tracking cost savings from competitive tendering in the short and long run," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-74, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    2. Andersson, Fredrik & Jordahl, Henrik, 2011. "Outsourcing Public Services: Ownership, Competition, Quality and Contracting," Working Paper Series 874, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Luis Angeles & Robin G Milne, 2015. "Tracking cost savings from competitive tendering in the short and long run," Working Papers 2015_19, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    4. Luis Angeles & Robin G. Milne‌, 2015. "Tracking cost savings from competitive tendering in the short and long run," Working Papers 2015_11, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. Fredrik Andersson & Henrik Jordahl & Jens Josephson, 2019. "Outsourcing Public Services: Contractibility, Cost, and Quality," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 65(4), pages 349-372.
    6. Alena Podaneva & Pierre Picard, 2023. "Facility Management Services in UK Hospitals: in-house or outsourcing," DEM Discussion Paper Series 23-15, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    7. Jean Beuve & Lisa Chever, 2017. "Quality of Outsourced Services, Opportunism and Contract Design," Post-Print hal-02139517, HAL.
    8. Angeles, Luis & Milne, Robin G., 2015. "Tracking cost savings from competitive tendering in the short and long run," SIRE Discussion Papers 2015-74, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    9. Jean Beuve & Lisa Chever, 2017. "Quality of Outsourced Services, Opportunism and Contract Design," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-02139517, HAL.

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