SYSTEM AND PROCESS IN CAPITAL‐INTENSIVE PRIVATIZATION: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS

John G. Heilman and Gerald W. Johnson

Review of Policy Research, 1989, vol. 8, issue 3, 549-572

Abstract: Capital‐intensive privatization (CIP) is an option for infrastructure project development. Advocates claim that CIP generates cost savings through efficiencies inherent in the coordinated design, construction, and operation of facilities. The present paper assesses these claims in the field of municipal wastewater treatment facilities (WIWs). It presents case‐study results and aggregate data on seven of the first privatized WIWs, and on seven comparable grant‐funded facilities. The analysis relies on the concepts of system and process. It concludes that CIP changes the system of players and the processes through which they interact. In doing so, CIP generates efficiencies of time and cost in project design and construction. It also may change accountability mechanisms, trade efficiency off against accountability, and raise issues of compatibility with the nature of the state. These matters bear directly on the current debates over tax and budget policy generated by increased demands for services, limited resources, and deficit reduction mandates.

Date: 1989
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.1989.tb00979.x

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:revpol:v:8:y:1989:i:3:p:549-572

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.wiley.com/bw/subs.asp?ref=1541-132x

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Policy Research is currently edited by Christopher Gore

More articles in Review of Policy Research from Policy Studies Organization Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().