Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Evaluating Reforms of Local Public and Social Services in Europe pp 171–189Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Effects of External Agentification in Local Government: A European Comparison of Municipal Waste Management

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Governance and Public Management ((GPM))

Abstract

This chapter explores the economic, political, and organisational effects of external agentification in the municipal waste service in four countries: Poland, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain (Catalonia). Using Van Thiel´s typology of agentification, it turns out that the four countries have all followed trajectories of external agentification, but at a different pace, in different periods, and in varying degrees. Furthermore, an analysis of secondary data indicates mixed effects of external agentification. Public law-based inter-municipal companies (type 2) and private law based municipal-owned limited companies (type 3) seem to have some positive economic effects, although transaction costs may increase. The political effects are clearly negative in the sense that accountability becomes more problematic. Due to the lack of data, the findings on organisational effects are inconclusive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Andersen, O. J., & Torsteinsen, H. (2015). Selskapsreisen. En casestudie av fristilling som innovasjonskatalysator. In O. J. Andersen, T. Bondas, & L. Gårseth-Nesbakk (Eds.), Innovasjon i offentlig tjenesteyting (pp. 215–236). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.

    Google Scholar 

  • Årim IKS. (2013). Årsmelding. [Annual Report].

    Google Scholar 

  • BDL GUS. (2016). Bank Danych Lokalnych Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego [Local Data Bank of the Main Statistical Office in Poland]. Available at: https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/. Accessed 25 June 2016.

  • Dahlberg, H. (2008). Prestasjonsmåling av renovasjonsbransjen tilknyttet husholdningsavfall. Master’s dissertation. University of Tromsø.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijkgraaf, E., & Gradus, R. (2003). Cost savings of contracting out refuse collection. Empirica, 30(2), 149–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijkgraaf, E., & Gradus, R. (2008). Institutional developments in the Dutch waste collection market. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26(1), 110–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijkgraaf, E., & Gradus, R. (2013). Cost advantage cooperations larger than private waste collectors. Applied Economics Letters, 20, 702–705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt, K. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossi, G., & Reichard, C. (2008). Municipal corporatization in Germany and Italy. Public Management Review, 10(5), 597–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 305–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NIK. (2015). Wdrożenie w gminach nowego systemu gospodarki odpadami komunalnymi. Informacja o wynikach kontroli [Implementation of the new waste management system in municipalities. Information on audit results]. Najwyższa Izba Kontroli [The Supreme Chamber of Control]. https://www.nik.gov.pl/plik/id,8670,vp,10785.pdf. Accessed 25 June 2016.

  • Overman, S. (2016). Great expectations of public service delegation: A systematic review. Public Management Review, 18(8), 1238–1262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, C., Bathgate, K., Caulfield, J., Smullen, A., & Talbot, C. (2001). Agency fever? Analysis of an international policy fashion. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 3(3), 271–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, C., Talbot, C., Caulfield, J., & Smullen, A. (2004). Agencies: How governments do things through semi–autonomous organizations. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renå, H. (2013). Når kontrollen svikter–en studie av tre korrupsjonssaker i norsk kommunesektor. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift, 29(4), 279–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rijkswaterstaat Leefomgeving. (2015). Afvalstoffenheffing 2015. Utrecht: Rijkswaterstaat Leefomgeving.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. (2014). Entrepreneurship at the local government level. Public Management Review, 16(5), 708–732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Norway. (2015). https://www.ssb.no/natur-og-miljo/statistikker/avfkomm. Accessed 25 June 2016.

  • Sørensen, R. J. (2007). Does dispersed public ownership impair efficiency? The case of refuse collection in Norway. Public Administration, 85(4), 1045–1058.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The competition authorities of the Nordic countries [De nordiske konkurransemyndigheter]. (1998). Konkurranseutsetting av kommunal virksomhet. Rapport nr. 1/1998. http://www.konkurransetilsynet.no/iKnowBase/Content/395675/98_1_KONKURRANSEUTSETTING_KOMMUNAL_VIRKSOMHET.PDF. Accessed 25 June 2015.

  • Torsteinsen, H., & Bjørnå, H. (2012). Agencies and transparency in Norwegian local government. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 16(1), 5–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torsteinsen, H., & Van Genugten, M. L. (2016). Municipal waste management in Norway and The Netherlands–From in–house provision to inter-municipal cooperation. In G. Bouckaert & S. Kuhlmann (Eds.), Local public sector reforms in times of crisis: National trajectories and international comparison (pp. 205–220). Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Van Genugten, M. L. (2008). The Art of alignment. Transaction cost economics and public service delivery at the local level. Enschede: University of Twente.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Thiel, S. (2012). Comparing agencies across countries. In K. Verhoest, S. Van Thiel, G. Bouckaert, & P. Lægreid (Eds.), Government agencies: Practices and lessons from 30 countries (pp. 18–26). Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Verhoest, K., Van Thiel, S., Bouckaert, G., & Lægreid, P. (Eds.). (2012). Government agencies: Practices and lessons from 30 countries. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wollmann, H., & Marcou, G. (Eds.). (2010). The provision of public services in Europe. Between state, local government and market. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø, Campus Harstad, Norway

    Harald Torsteinsen

  2. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marieke van Genugten

  3. Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Łukasz Mikuła

  4. Fundació Carles Pi I Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain

    Carla Puiggrós Mussons

  5. Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona/Fundació Carles Pi I Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain

    Esther Pano Puey

Authors
  1. Harald Torsteinsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marieke van Genugten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Łukasz Mikuła
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carla Puiggrós Mussons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Esther Pano Puey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harald Torsteinsen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Administrative Science and Local Government, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivan Koprić

  2. Institute for Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hellmut Wollmann

  3. GRALE (Groupement de Recherche sur l’Administration Locale en Europe), University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

    Gérard Marcou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Torsteinsen, H., van Genugten, M., Mikuła, Ł., Mussons, C.P., Puey, E.P. (2018). Effects of External Agentification in Local Government: A European Comparison of Municipal Waste Management. In: Koprić, I., Wollmann, H., Marcou, G. (eds) Evaluating Reforms of Local Public and Social Services in Europe. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61091-7_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation