IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v72y2011i12p1939-1947.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What can transaction costs tell us about governance in the delivery of large scale HIV prevention programmes in southern India?

Author

Listed:
  • Guinness, Lorna

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the transaction costs implications of two different governance modes for large scale contracting of HIV prevention services to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 2 states in India as part of the National AIDS Control Programme between 2001 and 2003. Interviews at purposively selected case study NGOs, contracting agencies and key informants as well as document review were used to compile qualitative data and make comparisons between the states on five themes theoretically proposed to shape transaction costs: institutional environment, informational problems, opportunism, scale of activity and asset specificity (the degree to which investments made specifically for the contract have value elsewhere). The State AIDS Control Society (SACS) in state Y used a management agency to manage the NGO contracts whereas the SACS in state X contracted directly with the NGOs. A high level of uncertainty, endemic corruption and weak information systems served to weaken the contractual relationships in both states. The management agency in state Y enabled the development of a strong NGO network, greater transparency and control over corrupt practises than the contract model in state X. State X's contractual process was further weakened by inadequate human resources. The application of the transaction cost framework to contracting out public services to NGOs identified the key costs associated with the governance of HIV prevention services through NGO contracts in India. A more successful form of relational contract evolved within the network of the contract management agency and the NGOs. This led to improved flows of information and perceived quality, and limited corrupt practises. It is unlikely that the SACS on its own, with broader responsibilities and limited autonomy can achieve the same ends. The management agency approach therefore appears to be both transaction cost reducing and better able to cope with the large scale of these contracting programmes.

Suggested Citation

  • Guinness, Lorna, 2011. "What can transaction costs tell us about governance in the delivery of large scale HIV prevention programmes in southern India?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1939-1947, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:12:p:1939-1947
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953611000621
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Das Gupta, Monica & Khaleghian, Peyvand & Sarwal, Rakesh, 2003. "Governance of communicable disease control services : a case study and lessons from India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3100, The World Bank.
    2. Allen, Pauline, 2002. "A socio-legal and economic analysis of contracting in the NHS internal market using a case study of contracting for district nursing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 255-266, January.
    3. Maria Goddard & Russell Mannion, 1998. "From competition to co‐operation: new economic relationships in the National Health Service," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(2), pages 105-119, March.
    4. Masten, Scott E & Meehan, James W, Jr & Snyder, Edward A, 1991. "The Costs of Organization," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, Spring.
    5. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    6. Marini, Giorgia & Street, Andrew, 2007. "A transaction costs analysis of changing contractual relations in the English NHS," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 17-26, September.
    7. Ashton, Toni, 1998. "Contracting for health services in New Zealand: A transaction cost analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 357-367, February.
    8. Palmer, Natasha & Mills, Anne, 2005. "Contracts in the real world: Case studies from Southern Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2505-2514, June.
    9. William M. Dugger, 1987. "The Economic Institutions of Capitalism," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 528-530, March.
    10. Shreelata Rao Seshadri, 2003. "Constraints to scaling-up health programmes: a comparative study of two Indian states," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 101-114.
    11. Natasha Palmer & Anne Mills, 2003. "Classical versus relational approaches to understanding controls on a contract with independent GPs in South Africa," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(12), pages 1005-1020, December.
    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. Panova, Anna A. (Панова, Анна), 2018. "Transaction Cost Theory: Origin and Development [Теория Трансакционнных Издержек: Логика Возникновения И Развития]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 90-107, August.
    2. Frank LORNE & Sneh SHAH, 2015. "Price Reversal Pattern of ARV Drugs: A Transaction-Cost Approach Digression," Expert Journal of Economics, Sprint Investify, vol. 3(2), pages 93-112.
    3. Khim, Keovathanak & Annear, Peter Leslie, 2013. "Strengthening district health service management and delivery through internal contracting: Lessons from pilot projects in Cambodia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 241-249.

    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. Petsoulas, Christina & Allen, Pauline & Hughes, David & Vincent-Jones, Peter & Roberts, Jennifer, 2011. "The use of standard contracts in the English National Health Service: A case study analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 185-192, July.
    2. Donato, Ronald, 2010. "Extending transaction cost economics: Towards a synthesised approach for analysing contracting in health care markets with experience from the Australian private sector," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(11), pages 1989-1996, December.
    3. Mikko Ketokivi & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2020. "Transaction Cost Economics As a Theory of Supply Chain Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 1011-1031, April.
    4. Marcelo Bucheli & Joseph T. Mahoney & Paul M. Vaaler, 2010. "Chandler's Living History: "The Visible Hand" of Vertical Integration in Nineteenth Century America Viewed Under a Twenty-First Century Transaction Costs Economics Lens," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(s1), pages 859-883, July.
    5. Natasha Palmer & Anne Mills, 2012. "Contracting-out Health Service Provision in Resource- and Information-poor Settings," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 23, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. James H. Love, 2010. "Opportunism, Hold-Up and the (Contractual) Theory of the Firm," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 166(3), pages 479-501, September.
    7. Timothy B. Folta & Jonathan P. O'Brien, 2008. "Determinants of firm-specific thresholds in acquisition decisions," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 209-225.
    8. Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein, 2005. "The Theory of the Firm and Its Critics A Stocktaking and Assessment," DRUID Working Papers 05-03, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    9. Kyle J. Mayer & Jack A. Nickerson, 2005. "Antecedents and Performance Implications of Contracting for Knowledge Workers: Evidence from Information Technology Services," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 225-242, June.
    10. Guillaume Biot-Paquerot, 2007. "Efficacité Du Système D'Évaluation Public : Le Cas Des Universités," Post-Print halshs-00543212, HAL.
    11. Emeric Lendjel, 2013. "Le transport fluvial de vrac," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00977964, HAL.
    12. Lajili, Kaouthar & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2005. "Revisiting Agency and Transaction Costs Theory Predictions on Vertical Financial Ownership and Contracting: Electronic Integration as an Organizational Form Choice," Working Papers 05-0106, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    13. Gibbons, Robert, 2005. "Four forma(lizable) theories of the firm?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 200-245, October.
    14. Leonard, David K. & Bloom, Gerald & Hanson, Kara & O’Farrell, Juan & Spicer, Neil, 2013. "Institutional Solutions to the Asymmetric Information Problem in Health and Development Services for the Poor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 71-87.
    15. Mahoney, Joseph T. & McNally, Regina C., 2004. "Explaining and Predicting the Choice of Organizational Form: Integrating Performance Ambiguity and Asset Specificity Effects," Working Papers 04-0109, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    16. Manuel González & Benito Arruñada & Alberto Fernández, 1997. "La decisión de subcontratar: el caso de las empresas constructoras," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 21(3), pages 501-521, September.
    17. Palmer, Natasha & Mills, Anne, 2005. "Contracts in the real world: Case studies from Southern Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2505-2514, June.
    18. Hierro Recio, Luis Angel & Atienza Montero, Pedro & Patiño Rodríguez, D., 2009. "La distribución de los ingresos entre los Estados y Territorios australianos: Origen de su desigualdad y progresividad./," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 27, pages 281(20á)-28, Abril.
    19. Jeffrey T. Macher, 2006. "Technological Development and the Boundaries of the Firm: A Knowledge-Based Examination in Semiconductor Manufacturing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(6), pages 826-843, June.
    20. James Jr., Harvey S., 1998. "Are employment and managerial control equivalent? Evidence from an electronics producer," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 447-471, September.

    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:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:12:p:1939-1947. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.