Managing Markets for Public Service: The Role of Mixed Public/Private Delivery of City Services

The privatization experience of U.S. municipalities shows declining use of complete contracts and a dramatic rise in mixed public/private delivery (joint contracting) of city services. Our analysis shows city managers have recognized the need to move beyond a simple dichotomy between market delivery and public planning to an approach that balances concerns with efficiency, market management and citizen satisfaction. New public management stresses the importance of competition and efficiency, transaction costs economics emphasizes the challenges of contract management, and new public service gives primary concern to citizen engagement; but city managers see the need to balance all three.