Disentangling the separate and combined effects of privatization and cooperation on local government service delivery

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bel, Germa; Elston, Thomas
• 署名单位: University of Barcelona; University of Oxford; University of Barcelona
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12992
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 1624-1646
• 关键词: inter-municipal cooperation; waste; EFFICIENCY; ORGANIZATIONS; hybridity; COSTS; water; size

摘要

Inter-municipal cooperation is often regarded as an alternative to privatizing local public services. But cooperation and privatization can also be combined into a dual reform package in which several municipalities jointly issue contracts relating to multiple jurisdictions. Evaluation of these mixed cooperation-privatization reforms rests on disentangling the separate and combined effects of each strategy. This we undertake for the case of solid waste collection in Catalonia, using environmental protection as our focal performance standard. Drawing on two waves of data (for 2000 and 2019) for 186 municipalities that together use all four combinations of public, private, single and cooperative service delivery, we show that superior environmental performance was initially confined to conventional cooperations involving only public production. But latterly, any form of cooperation, using public or private production, resulted in significant gains. This reinforces the need for evaluators to isolate the active ingredient in composite reforms. La cooperacio intermunicipal es contempla sovint com alternativa a la privatitzacio de serveis publics locals. Tanmateix, cooperacio i privatitzacio es poden combinar dins un paquet dual de reforma en el que alguns municipis promouen contractes conjunts. L'avaluacio de reformes que combinen cooperacio i privatitzacio exigeix distingir entre efectes separats i combinats de cadascuna d'aquestes estrategies. Ho fem per la recollida de residus solids a Catalunya, usant la proteccio mediambiental com estandard de qualitat. Aprofitem dues onades de dades (2000 i 2019) per 186 municipis que usen les quatre combinacions de produccio (publica o privada) i provisio (cooperativa o individual) pel servei. Mostrem que la cooperacio convencional combinada nomes amb produccio publica presentava inicialment millor qualitat mediambiental. Mes recentment, pero, qualsevol forma de cooperacio, sigui amb produccio publica o privada, mostra millor qualitat. Els nostres resultats confirmen que es necessari que les avaluacions aillin l'ingredient actiu en les reformes combinades.