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THE PROVISION OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES THROUGH MIXED ENTERPRISES: THE ITALIAN CASE
Author(s) -
BOGNETTI G.,
ROBOTTI L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
annals of public and cooperative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-8292
pISSN - 1370-4788
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8292.2007.00340.x
Subject(s) - business , scope (computer science) , flexibility (engineering) , mixed economy , shareholder , economies of scope , public enterprise , public ownership , service (business) , economies of scale , scale (ratio) , industrial organization , private enterprise , contracting out , finance , market economy , marketing , economics , public administration , corporate governance , business administration , physics , management , quantum mechanics , computer science , political science , programming language
** : The rules regulating the creation of mixed enterprises companies (public‐private companies) for the provision of local public services have been subjected, in Italy, to a rather complex evolution over time. The new rules introduced allow the creation of a mixed private public enterprise, with either public or private majority; in any case the private shareholder must be selected through a public tender procedure. The data seems to show that mixed enterprises have been used by municipalities as a tool that allows the exploitation of economies of scale and of scope, without necessarily losing control of the leadership and direction of the local utility. Better flexibility of mixed enterprises is also shown by the proportion of mixed enterprises acting outside the territory which is higher than the proportion of public enterprises similarly engaged. Moreover the presence of multi‐service units is proportionally higher in mixed enterprises.