A Conceptual Framework for Devolving Responsability and Functions from Government to the Private Sector

This document presents a conceptual framework and a method for deciding whether or not a function that was considered the responsibility of government should be performed by public organizations or devolved to private for-profit and non-profit organizations. This conceptual framework goes beyond ideology and matches functions to organizational capacity, in a scheme that needs strategic thinking. The method requires that government managers resist bias and simplistic assumptions and answer a number of critical questions that require for the experience and judgment of decision makers, as well as for the political and social context in which the decision takes place