Contracting for government services
Subtitle: theory and evidence from u.s. cities
By: Jonathan Levin, Steven Tadelis
Contributors: Tadelis, Steven; National Bureau of Economic Research
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 13350; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 13350.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Description: "Local governments can provide services with their own employees or by contracting with private or public sector providers.  We develop a model of this "make-or-buy" choice that highlights the trade-off between productive efficiency and the costs of contract administration.  We construct a dataset of service provision choices by U.S.  cities and identify a range of service and city characteristics as significant determinants of contracting decisions.  Our analysis suggests an important role for economic efficiency concerns, as well as politics, in contracting for government services"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 9/5/2007.

Includes bibliographical references.

Also available in print.

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Mode of access: World Wide Web.