DP2725 Government versus Private Ownership of Public Goods

Author(s): Timothy J. Besley , Maitreesh Ghatak

Publication Date: March 2001

Keyword(s): Public-Private Partnerships , Public Goods , Public Ownership

JEL(s): D73 , H40 , O17

Programme Areas: Industrial Organization , Public Policy

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP2725.asp

There has been a dramatic change in the division of responsibility between the state and the private sector for the delivery of public goods and services in recent years with an increasing trend towards contracting out to the private sector and ‘public-private partnerships’. This Paper analyses how ownership matters in public good provision. We show that if contracts are incomplete then the ownership of a public good should lie with a party that values the benefits generated by it relatively more. This is true regardless of whether this party is also the key investor, or other aspects of the technology.