Workshop: Re-municipalisation of municipal services in Europe and US: a trend or a hype?
Hans. W. Friederiszick and Steffen Reinhold will participate in the workshop that will be held at the University of Amsterdam on 14th January 2019.
Steffen Reinhold will be presenting during Session II: Ideological and Political Motives in Reverse Privatization: Evidence from Solid Waste Collection in Germany. The presentation investigates whether and to what extent ideological and political motives drive reverse privatisation, or whether it is an efficient reaction to contracting problems in the private sector. If reverse privatisation was driven largely by ideological or political motives instead of efficiency considerations there would be potentially societal costs attached to providing services in-house. Distinguishing between ideological and political motives also sheds light on the question whether the recent trends towards in-house provision reflect the preferences of the electorate and the municipal decision makers or the preferences of smaller interest groups such as local entrepreneurs or public sector employees. While there is little support for the notion that political ideology is a main driver of reverse privatisation, there is evidence that interest groups are important determinants of the choice of mode of service provision.