Answer
Other public functions that might benefit from a healthy dose of competition are trash collection, facilities maintenance, driver’s license processing, database support, computer support, vehicle fleet management, test scoring, wireless and cable television access, one-time research assignments and printing services.
Work Step by Step
Outsourcing to a private entity is beneficial when the service or product being provided must be customer-centric (private-sector employees are more easily fired than public-sector employees when customers are unhappy with performance) and when they do not require large capital investments. Private prisons are an exception: Operating costs are lower, but so is ‘customer’ (inmates’) satisfaction, but in this case, ‘customer’ satisfaction is not a priority. In the case of education, private schools are more likely to rent than build new facilities. The optimal market-based solution is often a public-private partnership. For example, when the government builds an expensive facility (energy grid, train track, incinerator/ power plant), private companies can provide the customer service. Manufacturers and installers of solar panels are doing this now – they provide the rooftop services as a private concern, then hook the customer to the public energy grid.
