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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010206053 | TD789.G7 W38 2008 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
E. Dijkgraaf and R. H. J. M. Gradus 1. 1 Introduction In 2004 Elbert Dijkgraaf nished a PhD-thesis 'Regulating the Dutch waste market' at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. It was interesting that not much is published about the waste market, although it is a very important sector from an economic and environmental viewpoint. In 2006 we were participants at a very interesting conf- ence on Local Government Reform: privatization and public-private collaboration in Barcelona organized by Germa ` Bel. It was interesting to notice that researchers from Spain, Scandinavian countries, the UK and the USA were studying this issue as well. From this we brought forward the idea to publish a book about the waste market. Because of its legal framework we want to focus on Europe. In this chapter we give an introduction to this book. In the next paragraph we present a short overview of the waste collection market. Since 1960 the importance of the waste sector has increased substantially both in the waste streams and the costs of waste collection and treatment. Furthermore, we discuss policy measures to deal with these increases and give an overview of the different measures in - countries. In the last paragraph we present different chapters of our book. 1. 2 Empirical Update of the Waste Collection Market The Dutch case provides a nice example why studying the waste market is int- esting from an economic point of view.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
This specialized work on the topic of solid waste collection management in five European countries consists of eight substantive chapters: four on Holland and one each on Sweden, Norway, Spain, and Belgium. The central issue in most of these studies pertains to achieving efficiency in waste collection--either through in-house government delivery or by contracting out to either governmental entities or private organizations. The consensus that emerges is that cost savings through contracting out can be substantial, but only if cost is defined as the difference between contract price and in-house price. Rarely is attention paid to contracting costs. Nor is the econometric methodology used beyond question, as H. Ohlsson emphasizes in his chapter on Sweden. In fact, the latter's study, adjusting for selectivity and not pooling the public and private sector data, leads Ohlsson to conclude that in Sweden at least "public production, on average, was 6 percent cheaper than private production." In short, for those concerned with the efficiency of municipal operations and not daunted by econometrics, this work, edited by academicians from the Netherlands, is a valuable resource containing much food for thought. Summing Up: Recommended. Comprehensive graduate, research, and professional collections. J. Prager New York University
Table of Contents
| 1 Introduction | p. 1 |
| 2 Cost Savings of Contracting Out Refuse Collection in The Netherlands | p. 9 |
| 3 Contracting Out Refuse Collection in The Netherlands | p. 23 |
| 4 Contracting Out in Sweden: Ownership and Production Costs | p. 43 |
| 5 Does Public Ownership Impair Efficiency in Norwegian Refuse Collection? | p. 67 |
| 6 Refuse Collection in Spain: Privatization, Intermunicipal Cooperation, and Concentration | p. 83 |
| 7 How to Get Increasing Competition in the Dutch Refuse Collection Market? | p. 101 |
| 8 Dutch Cost Savings in Unit-Based Pricing of Household Waste | p. 111 |
| 9 Assessing Instruments for Mixed Household Solid Waste Collection Services in Flanders | p. 131 |
| 10 Final Comments and Future Research | p. 149 |
| Index | p. 155 |
