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Public Sector Outsourcing Contracts: The Impact of Uncertainty, Incentives and Transaction Costs on Contractual Relationships
Despite widespread implementation across the industrialised world, public sector outsourcing remains a contentious policy for the simple reason that many outsourcing contracts fail. Critics of outsourcing often argue that the stated efficiency gains are illusory if outsourcing leads to a reduction in the quality of service provision or a reduction in workers' terms and conditions of employment. Do the criticisms of outsourcing have any empirical validity? How can we explain the observed heterogeneity in outsourcing outcomes? In answering these questions, the author focuses on the role of uncertainty, incentives and transaction costs on contractual relationships. The results should help business, students and government policymakers in identifying factors that affect the efficiency of outsourcing arrangements.
About the Author
Dr Paul Jensen Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. Paul joined the Melbourne Institute in September 2003. He completed his PhD – which was on the efficiency effects of outsourcing public-sector services – at the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney. His current research interests are innovation and intellectual property, and the effects of intrinsic motivation on contractual relationships. Much of his research has a strong public policy focus, and has been published in academic journals such as the Oxford Review of Economic Policy and Public Performance & Management Review. In addition, he has acted as a consultant for the Productivity Commission, the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, NSW Treasury, and the NSW Department of Community Services.
To order Public Sector Outsourcing Contracts: The Impact of Uncertainty, Incentives and Transaction Costs on Contractual Relationships visit the VDM website.
2007, 204 pages, ISBN-10 3836428644, ISBN-13 9783836428644
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