TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blank,Rebecca M.
TI  - When Can Public Policy Makers Rely on Private Markets? The Effective Provision of Social Services
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7099
PY  - 1999
Y2  - April 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7099
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7099.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rebecca M. Blank
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs
Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 4848
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20230
Tel: 202-482-3727
Fax: 202-482-0432
E-Mail: rblank@doc.gov
AB  - The privatization of social services is being increasingly discussed.  The social services market is characterized by multiple market failures, including informational asymmetries, agency problems, externalities, and distributional concerns. Consumers may care as much or more about quality of services than about price.  If quality is readily observable, the government can regulate private providers to assure standards are met.  But when standards are difficult to observe or when the recipient is not the agent who makes the decisions, government ownership may be preferable.  This paper categorizes the market situations in which the government provision of social services is likely to be most versus least attractive.
ER  -