Skip to main content

Privatization in Local Governments

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance
  • 123 Accesses

Synonyms

Denationalization

Definition

The process by which a company or organization is transferred from the local government to the private sector (private company) so that the latter will hold ownership and control thereafter.

Introduction

The term “privatization” sometimes is ambiguous. There are several ways in which the private sector manages municipal services: concessions, delegated management contracts, leasing, or other forms of public–private partnership. However, these management agreements are normally not considered as privatization. The term privatization refers to a transfer of assets to the private sector rather than just a transfer of activities. This distinction is necessary because an increasing share of privatizations takes place in public utilities and infrastructure, sectors which also have a high proportion of public–private partnerships that in some aspects may be close substitutes to asset sell-offs (OECD 2009). Figure 1shows the continuum that exists between...

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

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bel G, Miralles A (2010) Choosing between service fees and budget funding to pay for local services: empirical evidence from Spain. Environ Plann C Gov Policy 28(1):54–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • da Cruz NF, Simões P, Marques RC (2013) The hurdles of local governments with PPP contracts in the waste sector. Environ Plann C Gov Policy 31(2):292–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman JB, Lovemen GW (1990) Does privatization serve the public interest? Harv Bus Rev 69(6):26–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermann C, Flecker J (2013) Privatization of public services: impacts for employment, working conditions, and service quality in Europe. Routledge, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • John P (2001) Local governance in Western Europe. Sage, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald DA, Hoedeman O, Kishimoto S (2012) Chapter 1. In: Pigeon M (ed) Remunicipalisation: putting water back into public hands. Transnational Institute, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-OECD (2009) Privatization in the 21st century: recent experiences of OECD countries. Report on Good Practices

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundell A, Lapuente V (2012) Adam Smith or Machiavelli? Political incentives for contracting out local public services. Public Choice 153(3–4):469–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wollmann H, Marcou G (2010) From public sector-based to privatized service provision. Is the pendulum swinging back? In: Wollmann H, Marcou G (eds.) The provision of public services in Europe: between state, local government and market. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, pp 168–182

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco Bastida .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Bastida, F. (2016). Privatization in Local Governments. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2310-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2310-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics