http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/1993/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38963/ 2013-05-01T00:00:00Z For refuse collection, we estimate the cost effects of different institutional modes using panel data for almost all Dutch municipalities between 1998 and 2010. The modes we consider are private enterprises, intermunicipal cooperation, municipality-owned enterprises and in-house collection. For private companies, the cost advantage becomes substantially smaller and nonsignificant if municipal fixed effects are included. The cost advantage of intermunicipal cooperation is larger in this case than that of privatization. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38076/ 2012-07-09T00:00:00Z Little evidence is available for the effect of competition on educational quality as only a few countries allow large-scale competition. In the Netherlands, free parental choice has been present since the beginning of the twentieth century and can be characterized as a full voucher program with 100 % funding. Based on micro panel data for the Netherlands, we show that there is a relation between competition and educational outcomes in secondary education, but that it is often negative and small, sometimes insignificant but never positive. This effect is larger for small and medium-sized schools and for schools that do not have a Protestant or Catholic denomination. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/26865/ 2011-11-07T00:00:00Z For refuse collection, we estimate the cost effects of different institutional modes using panel data for almost all Dutch municipalities between 1998 and 2010. The modes we consider are private contracts, intermunicipal cooperation, public provision and own collection. For private companies, the cost advantage is substantially smaller and non-significant if municipal fixed effects are included. The cost advantage of intermunicipal cooperation is larger in this case than that of privatisation. Moreover, if yearly mode dummies and mode duration are also included, we show that for 2004, 2005 and 2006 a large cost increase is visible for privatisation. Which mode offers the most cost-saving opportunity depends strongly on the year and the mode duration. For private contracts, the duration effects lead to lower costs; for municipal cooperation and public provision, there are extra costs to begin with, which disappear after 5 or 6 years. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20699/ 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z Because of differences in institutional arrangements, public service markets, and national traditions regarding government intervention, local public service provision can vary greatly. In this paper we compare the procedures adopted by the local governments of The Netherlands and Spain in arranging for the provision of solid waste collection. We find that Spain faces a problem of consolidation, opting more frequently to implement policies of privatization and cooperation, at the expense of competition. By contrast, The Netherlands, which has larger municipalities on average, resorts somewhat less to privatization and cooperation, and more to competition. Both options-cooperation and competition-have their merits when striving to strike a balance between transaction costs and scale economies. The choices made in organizational reform seem to be related to several factors, among which the nature of the political system and the size of municipalities appear to be relevant. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/17251/ 2009-11-12T00:00:00Z Ample evidence is available for the effect of competition on educational quality as only a few countries allow large scale competition. In the Netherlands free parental choice is present since the beginning of the 20th century, which can be characterized as a full voucher program with 100% funding. Based on panel data for the Netherlands we show that there is a relation between competition and educational outcomes in secondary education, but that it is negative and small. This effect is larger for small and medium sized schools and for schools which do not have a Protestant or Catholic denomination. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14053/ 2008-11-10T00:00:00Z The literature suggests that competition among schools might increase quality. However, not much empirical evidence is present as only a few countries allow competition at a large scale. One exception is the Netherlands. Free parental choice is the leading principle of the Dutch education system since the beginning of the 20th century. Based on panel data for the Netherlands we show that there is a relation between competition and student achievement in upper secondary education, but that it is negative. In addition, private schools have higher quality levels. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/27602/ 2008-03-01T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11251/ 2008-02-01T00:00:00Z We analyse the Dutch waste-collection market for 1998 – 2005. We show that municipalities with unit-based pricing (UBP) or waste collection by private companies have lower costs. However, this cost advantage decreases over time as competition decreases, because of the introduction of the VAT-compensation fund, and because of contamination of waste streams. The cost advantage of private provision is shown to be much larger in the first years, while a longer duration of private production results in lower efficiency. An important conclusion from this study is that UBP, although its effectiveness deteriorates over time, is more effective in reducing cost than is contracting out. Moreover, we show that the effect of contracting out might have been overestimated in the previous literature because there is a correlation between the use of contracting out and UBP. Low incentive UBP systems, based on volume or frequency, are only effective when the municipality does not collect the waste itself. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11254/ 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z Sunday shop opening is deregulated to the municipal level in the Netherlands. Despite positive effects on economic growth and employment, many municipalities restrict Sunday shop opening. Based on 2003 data we will show that diverse local characteristics, as the size of municipalities and religious and political affiliation, play a major role in decisions about Sunday shop opening. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that municipal control results in a considerable variation in policies. As this variation is related to significant differences between municipalities, reasons exist to decentralize the decision on Sunday shopping opening. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11253/ 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z In this paper we analyse whether collusion exists in the Dutch waste collection market, which shows a high degree of concentration. Although scale effects might be in accordance with this market outcome, the question is whether this concentration is in fact a result of fair competition. Using data for (nearly) all Dutch municipalities we estimate whether collusion exists and what the impact is on tariffs for waste collection. The results indicate that high concentration increases prices and therefore (partly) offsets the advantage of contracting out. The presence of competing public firms might be essential to ensure more and fair competition. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11263/ 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z Financiële prikkels kunnen helpen bij het oplossen van milieuvraagstukken. Zo is tariefdifferentiatie uitermate effectief. Het blijkt echter dat gemeenten met een diftarsysteem voor de introductie ook al minder afval produceerden en dat in de literatuur gepresenteerde effecten te hoog zijn. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11264/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z Om gemeenten in staat te stellen te profiteren van de efficiencyvoordelen van het uitbesteden van taken is in 2003 het BTW-compensatiefonds ingevoerd. De meeste gemeenten vinden het fonds overbodig, ze zijn niet meer gaan uitbesteden. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7425/ 2005-12-22T00:00:00Z Sunday shop opening is deregulated to the municipal level in the Netherlands. Despite positive effects on economic growth and employment, many municipalities restrict Sunday shop opening. Based on 2003 data we show that diverse local characteristics, like the size of municipalities and religious and political affiliation, play a major role in decisions about Sunday shop opening. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that municipal control over Sunday shopping hours results in a considerable variation in policies. As this variation is related to significant differences between municipalities, reasons exist to decentralize the decision on Sunday shopping opening. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11256/ 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z We estimate the effects of four unit-based pricing systems on waste collected in Dutch municipalities. Unit-based pricing is shown to be effective in reducing unsorted and compostable waste and in stimulating recyclable waste. If the estimations are corrected for differences in environmental activism between municipalities the effects are still large but significantly lower. The bag- and weight-based systems perform equally and far better compared with the frequency- and volume-based systems. This is interesting, as administrative costs are significantly lower for the bag-based system. Finally, unit-based pricing has no effect on the amounts of waste collected in surrounding municipalities. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1159/ 2004-02-16T00:00:00Z Dutch municipalities have the right to decide on Sunday shop opening hours. Despite positive effects on economic growth and employment, many municipalities restrict Sunday trading in one way or another. Based on 2003 data we show that especially religious and political affiliation, regional differences and the size of the municipalities explain the variation between between municipalities. The number and size of shops and household characteristics are significant although their influence seems to be smaller. There is less evidence that excessive competition with neighbouring municipalities induces shop opening on Sundays, although cross-border shopping seems to play a role. Population density has no effect. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/855/ 2003-09-10T00:00:00Z In dit onderzoek wordt een overzicht gegeven van de wetenschappelijke stand van zaken op het gebied van het industrie- en dienstenbeleid. In dat kader komt een drietal verschillende invalshoeken aan de orde, namelijk een internationale vergelijking van de beleidspraktijk, het debat over 'competitiveness' en het onderscheidende karakter van industrie- en dienstenbeleid. Om te beginnen wordt de beleidspraktijk van een aantal OESO-landen nader bekeken. Uit deze vergelijking komt naar voren dat in de ge?ndustrialiseerde wereld grofweg drie typen industriebeleid onderscheiden kunnen worden: het Angelsaksische, Rijnlandse en Mediterrane model. Traditioneel verschillen deze prototypen sterk van elkaar wat betreft doelstellingen, instrumenten, institutionele vormgeving en aandachtspunten in het beleid. Toch lijkt er momenteel sprake te zijn van een zekere mate van beleidsconvergentie. Zo is het industrie- en dienstenbeleid van veel landen tegenwoordig gericht op het versterken van de 'competitiveness' van de nationale economie. Van dit begrip bestaat echter geen eenduidige definitie. Sommige auteurs brengen het concurrentievermogen van een land in verband met exogene comparatieve voordelen, terwijl anderen wijzen op het belang van endogeen bepaalde competitieve voordelen. Binnen de laatste stroming verschilt men bovendien van mening of het landen of juist bedrijven zijn die met elkaar concurreren. Deze verschillende stromingen komen ieder tot een andere invulling van het begrip industriebeleid. Tenslotte wordt in het voorliggende onderzoeksrapport aandacht geschonken aan het specifieke karakter van industrie- en dienstenbeleid ten opzichte van andere vormen van overheidsbeleid. Een belangrijk aspect hierbij is dat veelal getracht wordt met behulp van industriebeleid bepaalde vormen van marktfalen te corrigeren. Gezien het feit dat het niet mogelijk is een pasklaar antwoord te geven op de vraag wat industrie- en dienstenbeleid nu feitelijk inhoudt, worden verschillende kennislacunes gesignaleerd. Het onderzoek wordt afgesloten met een aantal vragen die in vervolgonderzoek beantwoord zouden moeten worden. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/841/ 2003-09-08T00:00:00Z General empirical evidence suggests that contracting out refuse collection results in a cost decrease in the order of 20%. However, although the method of contracting out refuse collection has become more popular, it is still less common than in-house provision. This paper investigates the reasons behind this phenomenon. Recently, L?pez-de-Silanes et al. (1997) tried to explain the reservedness of local authorities towards contracting out with US-data and show that political patronage is an important explanation. In this article we give such an empirical assessment using Dutch data. We base our empirical research on the combination of the theories around efficiency, interest group influence and ideology. To test these theories we model the choice between private and public provision of refuse collection on the one hand side and the choice between in-house and out-house provision on the other side. Data are available for nearly all Dutch municipalities. A most striking conclusion is that nearly all political parties in the Netherlands do have a preference for public and in-house provision of refuse collection. We find only modest evidence for the hypothesis that a high level of real estate tax (proxy for the soundness of municipal financial affairs, the efficiency argument) or a low level of unemployment (the interest group argument) raises the probability of private and out-house provision. We find more evidence for the assumed relation between the size of municipalities and private collection. In all cases a smaller municipality has a higher chance of private collection. Therefore, scale effects are important for the choice between public and private provision. For the choice between out-house and in-house collection in relation to scale less evidence exists. Compared with other studies we estimated more general models, allowing for higher order effects and heteroskedasticity. We show that the standard Logit model is too restrictive, both for the choice between private and public provision and the choice between in-house and out-house provision. Signs and significance do differ between the different models. Especially, for the choice between in-house and out-house provision the applied model matters. In this case, only unemployment and municipality size has influence. Thus, more attention is needed for the implications of model choice for the explanation of the raised questions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/823/ 2003-09-04T00:00:00Z Raising the participation at the lower end of the labour market abstract is hindered by the high burden of taxation. Therefore, recently, in some European countries serious efforts have been made to make work pay. In this paper an overview of these current efforts is given. With the exception of Germany there seems to be a consistent policy of making work pay through the introduction of a substantial in-work tax credit and a decrease of the basic rate. In some countries due to distributing aspects the in-work tax credit is targeted to families with children. Moreover, two countries have a back to work allowance or premium for benefit claimants. Given the limited resources for future tax reforms, increase of in-work credits seem appropriate for further progress in making work pay. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/818/ 2003-09-03T00:00:00Z The levying of VAT in countries of the European Union creates significant distortions for local authorities in their decision-making on public provision and contracting out of public services. In several EU-countries, a refund of VAT to local governments eliminates this effect. Therefore, these schemes facilitate contracting out by local governments. In European countries with a refund scheme for the VAT costs of local governments or other ways to solve this distortion, contracting out refuse collection is relatively high compared to countries without. Moreover, the design of the scheme may have an effect on the tax rates of the included government sectors. A closed system financed by local governments only will lead to an increase of local tax rates. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/807/ 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z Using a panel data set for Dutch municipalities we estimate effects for weight-based, bag-based, frequency-based and volume-based pricing of household waste collection. Unit-based pricing shows to be effective in reducing solid and compostable and increasing recyclable waste. Pricing has no effect on the waste collected in surrounding municipalities (waste tourism). However, unit-based pricing may lead to illegal dumping. While empirical evidence is scarce, a social cost-benefit analysis shows that if the social valuation of illegal dumping is in line with the social costs for collecting and treating solid waste, the weight or bag-based systems are preferable. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11259/ 2003-06-01T00:00:00Z In this paper we seek an explanation for the reservations of local authorities towards contracting out. Although empirical evidence suggests that contracting out results in a significant cost decrease, a majority of Dutch municipalities provides for waste collection services themselves. Based on theoretical insights we model the choice between private, public, in-house, and out-house refuse collection. The models are estimated using a database comprising nearly all Dutch municipalities. We find evidence that the number of inhabitants, the transfer by central government, and interest group arguments are important explanations. Interestingly, ideology seems to play a minor role. Compared to earlier studies we estimate more general models. Although the same qualitative results are found for parametric and semiparametric models, we find strong statistical evidence that a parametric specification is far too inflexible. Differences between the parametric and the semiparametric marginal effects are substantial. Thus, more attention is needed for the implications of model specification. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11258/ 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z The article discusses the possible cost savings of contracting out refuse collection in the Netherlands. Our findings indicate that similar to foreign econometric studies cost savings of approximately 15-20% apply to the Netherlands. Moreover, compared with the existing literature we show that different production technologies apply to internal municipal waste collection units and external refuse collection firms. Different cost functions have to be estimated for the sub-samples. Though significant cost savings exist on contracting out waste collection, households will not experience these cost savings on a one to one basis. Private refuse collection firms must pay VAT while public entities are exempted. Thus, the fiscal system hinders a more pronounced role for private refuse collection firms. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11910/ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11282/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z Het uitbesteden van overheidsdiensten aan private bedrijven leidt veelal tot lagere kosten voor dezelfde dienstverlening. Dat geldt ook voor vuilophaal. Toch wordt er lang niet altijd uitbesteed. Vaak wordt dit geweten aan de macht van belangengroepen en politieke preferenties van het gemeentebestuur. Ook de omvang van gemeentes blijkt echter van belang: grote gemeentes willen niet uitbesteden. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11284/ 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z In het buitenland zijn grote kostenvoordelen behaald bij het uitbesteden van uitvoeringsgerichte overheidstaken als schoonmaken, catering en ophalen van huisvuil. In dit artikel onderzoeken we het effect van het uitbesteden van de vuilophaal in Nederland. Onze resultaten wijzen er op dat uitbesteding de kosten met f. 60 tot f. 80 per huishouden kan reduceren, een besparing van 15 à 20 procent. Dit komt overeen met gerealiseerde besparingen in het buitenland. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11285/ 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z Gradus en Dijkgraaf betoogden dat de vuilophaal goedkoper kan als gemeenten deze dienst uitbesteden of privatiseren. Volgens Doppenberg en Cras, werkzaam in deze branche, deugt er niets van dat onderzoek.