Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Concurrent Sourcing in Water Public Services

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Porcher, Simon
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1053-1858
• DOI: 10.1093/jopart/muw037
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 800-812
• 关键词: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE; vertical integration; transaction costs; privatization; management; delivery; strategy; firm; performance; governance

摘要

Analytical frameworks of government service contracting decisions typically focus on the make-or-buy decision. In concepts, governments can either produce the service itself (make) or outsource production (buy). However, governments make and buy the same public services, a practice that is termed concurrent sourcing. Drawing on transaction costs economics and the resource-based view of the firm, this article examines empirically local governments' propensities to concurrently source public services. Using a unique data set on water public services of more than 4,500 French municipalities for four years - 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2008 - we find that low transaction hazards, prior contracting experience, and low production capabilities have a positive impact on the level of concurrent sourcing. These findings demonstrate that organizations' characteristics are a significant factor in sourcing decisions and suggest that capabilities and their interactions with transaction hazards deserve heightened attention in the study of public contracting.