Why are Local Authorities Reluctant to Externalise (and Do They Have Good Reason)?

Tom Entwistle
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Tom Entwistle: Centre for Local and Regional Government Research, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, Wales

Environment and Planning C, 2005, vol. 23, issue 2, 191-206

Abstract: In vogue with the international currents of public management, the United Kingdom's New Labour government sees the outsourcing, or externalisation, of public service delivery as a key instrument of performance improvement. Evidence suggests, however, that a significant proportion of local authorities are reluctant to externalise. On the basis of fifty interviews in six case-study authorities, the author identifies five reasons for a reluctance to externalise. He further considers the degree of theoretical support for this reluctance, concluding that gaps in our knowledge—critical to ‘make or buy’ decisions—make it impossible to determine whether a reluctance to externalise is well founded or not.

Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:23:y:2005:i:2:p:191-206

DOI: 10.1068/c0419

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