We estimate whether fair competition exists for tendering refuse collection in the Netherlands. The results indicate that concentration increases prices and offsets the advantage of contracting out. The presence of competing public firms might be essential to ensure fair competition.

For refuse collection, we estimate the cost effects of different institutional modes using panel data for almost all Dutch municipalities between 1998 and 2010. The modes we consider are private enterprises, intermunicipal cooperation, municipality-owned enterprises and in-house collection. For...