Why do public buyers use competitive bidding instead of negotiation to select a contractor? To shed light on this question, we consider the impact on the main economic determinants identified in the literature on the choice of auctions versus negotiations, namely competitive intensity, buyer?s...

We use an original database of 5000 French local public authorities to explore the impact of organizational choice and performance as measured by consumer prices. In quantifying the impact of the choice of public-private partnerships (PPPs) on performance, we consider the related issue of the...

The efficiency of franchise bidding schemes for network industries has been challenged by many authors. One of the problems with this kind of schemes concerns the lack of investment?s incentives of the incumbent at the end of the contract. The goal of this article is twofold. First, we explain...

French municipalities often contract out the provision of local public services to private companies, and regularly choose the same private operator for a range of different services. We develop a model of relational contracts that shows how this strategy may lead to better performance at lower...

In this paper we investigate the relationship between operating cost and number of bidders for local bus contracts in London. Using an original database on 806 calls for tender on bus routes, we find that a higher number of bidders, whether actual or expected, is associated with a lower cost of...

[fre] La pratique des appels d'offres concurrentiels dans les industries de services publics s'est considérablement développée depuis deux décennies. Le principal argument théorique sur lequel s'appuie cette tendance est que la mise aux enchères du droit de fournir un bien ou un service...

This paper investigates the impact of ownership structure and contractual choices on technical efficiency in the French urban public transport sector. The central proposition, which relies on classical contract theory arguments, is that ownership regime and contractual practices are key...