Urban alternatives : public and private markets in the provision of local services /

Dominating our understanding of municipal provision of services are two propositions: (1) local governments that offer redistributive services are undermining their economic health; and (2) cities can lower costs by providing services through for-profit organizations. The author never seriously questions the first proposition, but devastates the second. Services and service arrangements are highly complex and do not yield to simple public-private dichotomies, and empirical analysis fails to support the hypothesized gains in efficiency resulting from privatization. A series of large-sample quantitative analyses test numerous hypotheses derived from thorough reviews of the theoretical literature and previous research. Substantively, the author argues for greater recognition of the institutional arrangements by which services are provided and the ability of those arrangements to make redistributive services viable. This reviewer finished the book with a tremendous appreciation for the complexity of the debates and the need for this type of systematic research. The precision of the arguments and the depth of the analysis will amply reward advanced students of municipal governments. Upper-division and graduate collections. -R. A. Beauregard, University of Pittsburgh