Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the extent of, rationales for and outcomes of contracting out in the local road and park sectors in Norway. For understanding the use of contracting out in local governments, it highlights the relevance of the capability...

Purpose – Different models have been adopted in England over time to organise public service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore contracting-out, a prevalent model of public service delivery in England, in relation to parks and roads maintenance delivery by examining private...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the recent evolution of the employment services system of a Northern Italian region (Lombardy), which was planned according to principles inspired by quasi-markets and horizontal subsidiarity theories, with a focus on its design and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the evolution of marketization in the public sector as a process of institutional change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a study of marketization and gradual changes in the involvement of private...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent contracting out practices has led to perceived resource cuts in the Swedish park and road sectors. Design/methodology/approach – E-survey sent to managers in park and technical departments in the municipalities. Response...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold: to investigate why and how companies in voluntary networks engage in performance benchmarking; how requirements for a standardised chart of accounts are handled; and what the role of regulatory pressure is. Design/methodology/approach – The...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the IJPSM special issue on marketization to clarify the conceptual foundations of marketization as a phenomenon within the public sector and gauge current marketization trends based on the special issue’s seven papers....