2014-02-20
Choice and Equality: Are Vulnerable Citizens Worse-Off after Liberalization Reforms?
Publication
Publication
Public Administration , Volume 2014 - Issue In Press p. 2- 28
Abstract
In recent decades, we have witnessed a massive restructuring of public service delivery mechanisms,
including service liberalization reforms, the pursuit of the choice agenda and the creation of quasimarkets.
A central aim of these reforms is that citizens receive better value for money through greater
competition among service providers. However, it is debated whether all layers of society are equally able
to benefit from these developments. We assess the equality in citizens’ choice behaviour with regard to
liberalized services of general interest across 25 countries of the European Union. Our findings show that
the gap between lesser and better educated service users, in terms of actual switching behaviour, widens
once a considerable degree of service liberalization, as evidenced by the number of service providers, has
been achieved. However, this has been only found in the mobile telephony sector and not in the less
competitive market of fixed telephony services.
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hdl.handle.net/1765/50540 | |
Public Administration | |
Organisation | Department of Public Administration |
Jilke, S. (2014). Choice and Equality: Are Vulnerable Citizens Worse-Off after Liberalization Reforms?. Public Administration, 2014(In Press), 2–28. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/50540 |