Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

A Political Perspective on Contracting Out

The Politics of Good Times. Experiences from Danish Local Governments

Bibliographic Data

ID6264243
AuthorsThomas Pallesen (0000-0002-1601-5763, Aarhus University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume17
Issue4
Pages573-587
Publication date2004-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGovernance (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0952-1895 • E-ISSN: 1468-0491
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.0952-1895.2004.00258.x
OpenAlexW2022987231
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited17

Privatization has been on the political agenda for the last two decades. The literature points to two major explanations of privatization. One explanation is political‐ideological, considering privatization to be a Liberal‐Conservative strategy. Economic crisis or fiscal stress is the other main explanation of privatization. The two theses are investigated by evaluating the determinants of contracting out in Danish local governments. The analysis shows that fiscal stress is strongly, but inversely related to contracting out, while Liberal‐Conservative political leadership is not associated with higher levels of contracting out than Social Democratic governance. Thus, the richer a local government becomes, the more it contracts out. Although party politics is not decisive for contracting out, the motivation seems to be political rather than economical. Specifically, it is argued that in a strongly decentralized public sector with influential public employees, contracting out is possible in good times when revenue and public expenditure are easier to increase, which reduces public employee resistance to contracting out

Corporate governance · Danish · Economic system · Economics · Government (linguistics · Ideology · Local government · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public good · Revenue · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Procurement and Policy · Public-Private Partnership Projects · Finance

  • Privatization and intermunicipal cooperation in US local government services

    Mildred E Warner, Austin M Aldag et al.•Public Management Review•2021

  • Modeling Fiscal Stress and Contracting Out in Local Government

    Open Access•Antonio Manuel López Hernández, Antonio M López-Hernández et al.•The American Review of Public…•2017

  • Principal-Agent Theory and Organisational Change

    Richard Gauld, Robin Gauld•Policy Studies•2007

  • Political Ideology and Social Services Contracting

    Open Access•Jose Montero Alonso, Rhys Andrews•Public Administration Review•2020

  • Administrative Professionals and the Diffusion of Innovations

    Open Access•Yosef Bhatti, Anne Lisbeth Olsen et al.•Public Administration•2010

  • Does political ideology still matter? A meta‐analysis of government contracting decisions

    Open Access•Yiying Chen, Jiahuan Lu•Public Administration•2024

  • Revenue Scarcity and Government Outsourcing

    Open Access•Benny Geys, Rune J Sørensen•Public Administration•2016

  • Pragmatic Municipalism

    Open Access•Yunji Kim, Mildred E Warner•Public Administration•2016

  • Why Do Local Governments Resist Contracting Out

    Open Access•Paola Garrone, Riccardo Marzano•Urban Affairs Review•2015

  • The Relationship Between Population Size and Contracting Out Public Services

    Open Access•Søren Kjær Foged•Urban Affairs Review•2016

  • Local institutions and public service outsourcing

    Open Access•Wenchi Wei, Zhiwei Zhang et al.•Public Administration Review•2022

  • Contracting Out Local Services

    Open Access•Ole Helby Petersen, Kurt Houlberg et al.•Public Administration Review•2015

  • Designing Markets

    Open Access•Andrew B Whitford•Policy Studies Journal•2007

  • The Politics of Competitive Tendering

    Sami Fredriksson, Olli Hyvärinen et al.•Local Government Studies•2010

  • Local service delivery choices in Portugal

    Antonio F Tavares, Pedro Jorge Sobral Camões et al.•Local Government Studies•2007

  • Municipal Service Delivery

    Miguel Rodrigues, Miguel Ângelo Rodrigues et al.•Local Government Studies•2012

  • Privatising Local Public Services

    Chiara Carrozza•Local Government Studies•2010

  • The anatomy of choice

    Katarzyna Szmigiel-Rawska, Julita Łukomska et al.•Local Government Studies•2021

  • Financial and Political Factors Motivating the Privatisation of Municipal Water Services

    José Luis Zafra Gómez, José Luis Zafra-Gómez et al.•Local Government Studies•2016

  • Public Sector Unions and Privatization

    Søren Kjær Foged, Lasse Aaskoven•Journal of Public Administration…•2017

  • The Effects of Administrative Professionals on Contracting Out

    Open Access•Yosef Bhatti, Anne Lisbeth Olsen et al.•Governance•2009

  • When new public management fails

    Open Access•Anthony M Bertelli, Valentina Mele et al.•Governance•2020

  • Privatization of social services

    Open Access•Ragnar Stolt, Paula Blomqvist et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2011

  • Mechanisms behind privatization

    Open Access•Ragnar Stolt, Ulrika Winblad•Social Science & Medicine•2009

  • Contracting out by the public sector

    Simon Domberger•Oxford Review of Economic Policy•1997

  • Shrinking the State

    Open Access•Harvey Feigenbaum, Jeffrey R Henig et al.•Shrinking the State•1998

  • The Decision to Contract out

    Open Access•James M Ferris•Urban Affairs Quarterly•1986

  • Bureaucratic Inefficiency

    Open Access•Brooks B Robinson•Public Choice•2001

  • Ownership versus competition

    Open Access•Aidan R Vining, Anthony E Boardman•Public Choice•1992

  • The Dynamics of Decentralization and Recentralization

    Open Access•Jørgen Grønnegaard Christensen•Public Administration•2000

  • The Variability of Party Government

    Open Access•Richard Rose•Political Studies•1969

  • The Political Underpinnings of Privatization

    Open Access•Harvey B Feigenbaum, Harvey Feigenbaum et al.•World Politics•1994

  • Cities and Privatization

    Open Access•Jeffrey D Greene•Policy Studies Journal•1996

  • Growth by Exception

    Open Access•Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen, Peter Bogetoft•Journal of Public Policy•1982

  • Institutions, distributional concerns, and public sector reform

    Open Access•Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen, Peter Bogetoft et al.•European Journal of Political…•2001

  • Privatization and the British Electorate

    Donley T Studlar, I Mcallister et al.•American Journal of Political…•1990

  • Do Parties Make a Difference? Parties and the Size of Government in Liberal Democracies

    André Blais, Donald Blake et al.•American Journal of Political…•1993

  • The Proper Scope of Government

    Oliver Hart, Andrei Shleifer et al.•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1997

Unique citing works24
Citations per year1,26
Citation span2007 - 2024 (18)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 24
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae