Do ideological and political motives really matter in the public choice of local services management? Evidence from urban water services in Spain

• Published in: Public choice Vol. 151; no. 1/2; pp. 215 - 228
• Main Authors: Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J, González-Gómez, Francisco, Wanden-Berghe, Jorge Guardiola, Ruiz-Villaverde, Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer 01.04.2012; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Decision Making; Economics; Economics and Finance; Election results; Ideology; Local elections; Local government; Management; Mayors; Municipal governments; Municipal services; Outsourcing; Political behavior; Political parties; Political Science; Political theory; Politicians; Politics; Power; Pragmatics; Privatization; Provincial government; Public Choice; Public Finance; Public private partnerships; Services; Spain; Studies; Subcontracting; Urban areas; Urban studies; Utilities; Variables; Water management; Water resources; Water utilities; Decision-making; Contracting out; H83; Privatization; Ideological and political motives; C25; Local governments; L33; Urban water services
• ISSN: 0048-5829; 1573-7101
• DOI: 10.1007/s11127-010-9744-0

This paper studies the influence of ideology and political motives on the choice of management for urban water services. Our contribution is two-fold. Firstly, we use a considerably more detailed set of variables to represent ideological and political motives than previous research. Secondly, the variables that explain local politicians' decisions are observed at the time decision-making occurs, rather than at a later date. Beyond pragmatic reasons, we find that ideological and political motives also matter when explaining decisions regarding the management of water services. Furthermore, considering the time dimension of decision-making noticeably improves the explanatory power of our model.