 Breaking up a partnership to build a competitive market in Denmark’s ambulance service: how can studies of contract reversals learn from the sociology of markets?Sarah Wadmann, Iben Emilie Christensen, Jakob Kjellberg and Carsten Greve Local Government Studies, 2019, vol. 45, issue 6, 937-956 Abstract: paper analyses a case of contract reversal in the market for ambulance services. The paper suggests that the sociology of markets-literature provides insights into market institutions of importance to relations between government and contractors that will benefit contracting out theory. Building on document analysis and interviews with 19 key stakeholders, it is demonstrated how a regional government in Denmark tried to wrestle the service provision from a long-time private provider and create a competitive market, only to discover that the implementation of the new contract was beset by obstacles largely stemming from informal norms in the market and attempts of the existing provider to hamper market entry for challenger firms. The result was a contract reversal: from private provision to government-provided service delivery. The paper contributes to the contracting out literature by providing a more elaborate understanding of the institutional conditions under which contract reversals can take place. Date: 2019 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:flgsxx:v:45:y:2019:i:6:p:937-956 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/03003930.2019.1615463 Access Statistics for this article Local Government Studies is currently edited by Helen Hancock More articles in Local Government Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.