Alternative Methods of Service Delivery in Small and Rural Municipalities

Data from approximately 1,000 small, mostly rural municipalities in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin address local choices on production and contracting arrangements for a wide range of services. The results suggest that the use of both for-profit contractors and cooperative agreements with ot...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration review 2010-11, Vol.70 (6), p.894-905
Main Authors: Mohr, Robert, Deller, Steven C., Halstead, John M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Anthologies
Bids
Citizens
Community Relations
Contract management
Contractors
Contracts
Cooperation
Cost control
Cost-effectiveness
Decision making
Delivery Systems
Economic crisis
Emergency services
Geography
Government
Local Government
Local government services
Management decisions
Municipal governments
Municipal taxes
Municipalities
New Thinking About Grassroots Public Management Issues
Outsourcing
Political Influences
Population growth
Privatization
Production
Public administration
Public services
Quality standards
Respondents
Rural Areas
Satisfaction
Services
Subcontracting
Tax collection
Total Quality Management
U.S.A
Urban Areas
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Data from approximately 1,000 small, mostly rural municipalities in Illinois, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin address local choices on production and contracting arrangements for a wide range of services. The results suggest that the use of both for-profit contractors and cooperative agreements with other governments correlate negatively with population size. Small municipalities are less likely to use competitive bidding processes, compare between production options, or report that privatization produces savings. Median income, rural geography, and ideology show statistically significant associations with contracting decisions. Respondents generally consider themselves "satisfied" with services provided by contract, although satisfaction levels are lower than those associated with self-provision of the same services. Citizen satisfaction associated with services delivered by other governments is lower than those provided by private contractors, suggesting that no trade-off in service quality is directly attributable to for-profit contractors.
ISSN:0033-3352
1540-6210
DOI:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02221.x