This paper investigates the determinants of contracts? renewal in utilities industries where competitive tendering is used. As most of these contracts remain in the hands of the incumbents, we study the reasons of such a stability. More precisely, the empirical analysis deals with the urban...

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...

This paper analyses the French recent experience of franchising in the urban public transport sector in the light of Transaction Cost Economics arguments. It provides theoretical arguments supported by empirical evidence explaining why the compulsory use of competitive tendering in this sector...