Public Versus Private Providers: How Ownership Impacts Quality in Public Service Markets
研究了丹麦托儿服务中公共、非营利和营利提供者的质量差异，发现营利提供者质量略高，但整体差异不大，对政策制定者和公共管理者有参考价值。
ABSTRACT Governments continue to liberalize public services through quasi‐market measures that grant consumers a subsidized choice of public, nonprofit, or for‐profit provider. The assumption is that competition and differences in ownership improve service quality. However, information asymmetry and measurement difficulties make especially complex human services prone to quality‐shading, potentially lowering quality. To examine these conflicting perspectives, the article tests competing hypotheses on the relationship between ownership and service quality using administrative data and a nationwide survey among public, nonprofit, and for‐profit providers of center‐based childcare in Denmark. Based on a comprehensive set of 27 quality indicators, the findings show relatively few differences across ownership, although with a tendency toward for‐profit providers offering higher quality than their public and nonprofit counterparts. The findings call for a continued focus among public managers and policymakers on stewarding quasi‐markets to provide equal access to high‐quality services.