The Waste Market Institutional Developments in Europe Edited by E. Dijkgraaf SEOR-ECRi, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and R.H.J.M. Gradus Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ^J...

The article discusses the possible cost savings of contracting out refuse collection in the Netherlands. According to foreign econometric studies, contracting out refuse collection leads to cost savings of approximately 20%. Our findings indicate that similar cost savings apply to the...

In member states of the European Union, the current VAT treatment of activities of public authorities creates significant distortions in their decisionmaking between public provision and contracting out of public services. In several EU-member states, a refund of VAT to local governments...

Municipalities may have various motives for decisions on the mode of their task execution. Empirical studies – based on both public choice and transaction costs theory - have not yet provided a fully comprehensive explanation for municipal contracting out decisions. Therefore, we held...