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Water Under the Bridge: Determinants of Franchise Renewal in Water Provision

Author

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  • Eshien Chong
  • Stéphane Saussier
  • Brian S. Silverman

Abstract

Williamson’s 1976 study of natural-monopoly franchise bidding launched extensive debate concerning the degree to which transaction-cost problems afflict government franchising. We propose that municipalities vary in ability to discipline franchisees, and that this heterogeneous ability affects franchise renewal patterns and the quasi-rents that franchisees extract. We study provision of municipal water services in France, a setting characterized by both direct public provision and franchised private providers. We find that small municipalities pay a significant price premium for franchisee-provided water when compared with publicly provided water; in contrast, large municipalities do not pay a premium on average. Further, large municipalities are less likely to renew an incumbent franchisee that charges an "excessive" price, while small municipalities’ renewal patterns are not influenced by franchisees’ excessive pricing. We interpret the results as evidence that although large municipalities can discipline franchisees and thus prevent extraction of quasi-rents, small municipalities are less able to do so due to weaker outside options. (JEL: H0, H7, K00, L33)

Suggested Citation

  • Eshien Chong & Stéphane Saussier & Brian S. Silverman, 2015. "Water Under the Bridge: Determinants of Franchise Renewal in Water Provision," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(suppl_1), pages 3-39.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:31:y:2015:i:suppl_1:p:i3-i39.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jleo/ewv010
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    Cited by:

    1. Bel, Germà, 2020. "Public versus private water delivery, remunicipalization and water tariffs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Iossa, Elisabetta & Decarolis, Francesco & de Rassenfosse, Gaétan & Giuffrida, Leonardo Maria & Mollisi, Vincenzo & Raiteri, Emilio & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2019. "Buyers' Role in Innovation Procurement," CEPR Discussion Papers 13777, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Hans Pitlik & Michael Klien & Stefan Schiman-Vukan, 2017. "Stabilitätskonforme Berücksichtigung nachhaltiger öffentlicher Investitionen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60595, March.
    4. Elisabetta IOSSA & Stephane SAUSSIER, 2018. "Public Private Partnerships In Europe For Building And Managing Public Infrastructures: An Economic Perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 25-48, March.
    5. Bertrand V. Quélin & Ilze Kivleniece & Sergio Lazzarini, 2017. "Public-Private Collaboration, Hybridity and Social Value: Towards New Theoretical Perspectives," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 763-792, September.
    6. Iossa, Elisabetta & Waterson, Michael, 2019. "Maintaining competition in recurrent procurement contracts: A case study on the London bus market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 141-149.
    7. Gabriel Natividad, 2022. "Decentralizing investment: Evidence from municipal organization after close elections," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 734-761, August.
    8. Thomas Bolognesi & Antoine Brochet & Yvan Renou, 2021. "Assessing socio-technical resistance to public policy instruments: Insights from water performance indicators in the Grenoble area (France)," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(7), pages 1407-1435, November.
    9. Landgraf, Steven W., 2020. "Entry threats from municipal broadband Internet and impacts on private provider quality," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Simon Porcher, 2022. "Délégations de service public," Post-Print hal-03831030, HAL.
    11. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Francisco González-Gómez & José C. Hernández-Gutiérrez & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2023. "Remunicipalization of Local Public Services: Policy Drivers and Changing Prices," IREA Working Papers 202319, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2023.
    12. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:25-48 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Porcher, Simon, 2017. "The ‘hidden costs’ of water provision: New evidence from the relationship between contracting-out and price in French water public services," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 166-175.
    14. Alexandre Mayol & Stéphane Saussier, 2020. "Retaking Control of Local Public Services A Step-by-Step Strategy," Working Papers of BETA 2020-43, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    15. Thomas Bolognesi & Géraldine Pflieger, 2021. "In the shadow of sunshine regulation: Explaining disclosure biases," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 200-225, January.
    16. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Eoin Reeves, 2019. "“Easier said than done: Understanding the implementation of re-municipalization decisions and associated delays.”," IREA Working Papers 201917, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Oct 2019.
    17. Francesco Decarolis & Leonardo M Giuffrida & Elisabetta Iossa & Vincenzo Mollisi & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2020. "Bureaucratic Competence and Procurement Outcomes [“Politics and Economics in Weak and Strong States]," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 537-597.
    18. Homsy, George C. & Warner, Mildred E., 2020. "Does public ownership of utilities matter for local government water policies?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Fabre, Anaïs & Straub, Stéphane, 2019. "The Impact of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Infrastructure, Health and Education: A Review," TSE Working Papers 19-986, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Sep 2021.
    20. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Francisco González-Gómez & José C. Hernández-Gutiérrez & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2024. "Changing prices after the reform of local public services: remunicipalization versus privatization," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 1-26, June.
    21. Bertrand V. Quelin & Sandro Cabral & Sergio Lazzarini & Ilze Kivleniece, 2019. "The Private Scope in Public–Private Collaborations: An Institutional and Capability-Based Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 831-846, July.
    22. Antonio Estache & Stéphane Saussier, 2014. "Public-Private Partnerships and Efficiency: A Short Assessment," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(03), pages 08-13, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

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