Regulating Concessions of Toll Motorways, An Empirical Study on Fixed vs. Variable Term Contracts

Recent theoretical developments on concession contracts for long term infrastructure projects under uncertain demand show the benefits of allowing for flexible term contracts rather than fixing a rigid term. This study presents a simulation to compare both alternatives by using real data from the oldest Spanish toll motorway. For this purpose, we analyze how well the flexible term would have performed instead of the fixed length actually established. Our results show a huge reduction of the term of concession that would have dramatically decreased the firm’s benefits and the user’s overpayment due to the internalization of an unexpected traffic increase.

Choosing hybrid organizations for local services delivery : An empirical analysis of partial privatization

The empirical literature about factors explaining local government delivery choices has traditionally focused the attention on the public or private production dilemma. However, hybrid organizational forms such as mixed public-private firms are increasingly used in several European countries. This paper makes use of survey data from Spanish municipalities to examine motivations of local governments for engaging in hybrid organizational forms. Data refer to two very relevant local services: water distribution and solid waste collection. The empirical analysis indicates that the use of mixed firms emerge as a type of pragmatically based ‘third way’ between pure public and pure private production. Indeed, local governments make use of mixed firms when cost considerations (scale economies, transaction costs and soon), financial constraints and private interests exert contradictory pressures. On the contrary, political and ideological factors do not play any significant role on the local government decision of engaging or not in joint ventures with private partners.

Local privatization, intermunicipal cooperation, transaction costs and political interests: Evidence from Spain

Several empirical studies have analyzed the factors that influence local privatization. Variables related to fiscal stress, cost reduction, political processes and ideological attitudes are the most common explanatory variables used in these studies. In this paper, we add to this literature by examining the influence of transaction costs and political factors on local governments’ choices through new variables. In addition to this, we consider the role of additional aspects, such as intermunicipal cooperation as a potential alternative to privatization in order to exploit scale economies or scope economies. We consider two relevant services: solid waste collection and water distribution. Results from our estimates show that privatization (that is, contracting out to a private firm) is less common for water distribution than for solid waste collection. Higher transaction costs in water distribution are consistent with this finding. Furthermore, we find that municipalities with a conservative ruling party privatize more often regardless of the ideological orientation of the constituency. This shows that those political interests able to influence local elections are more important in determining the form of delivery than is the basic ideological stance of the constituency. Finally, we find that intermunicipal cooperation is an alternative to local privatization.

Los montes públicos y las diversas vías de su privatización en el siglo XIX

La privatización del patrimonio público rústico y la progresiva limitación de los aprovechamientos vecinales constituyeron una pieza fundamental de la reforma agraria liberal. Ambos procesos forzaron la mercantilización de los Frutos y de la propiedad de un patrimonio ingente, desposeyendo a sus ufructuarios tradicionales. Aunque las implicaciones de ello fueron múltiples, solo me propongo abordar en este escrito dos cuestiones, la extensión que ocupaban los montes públicos, y la importancia de procedimientos privatizadores distintos a las subastas de bienes nacionales, que fueron el método regular y mayoritario de tales enajenaciones

Tropezando dos veces con la misma piedra: Quiebra de autopistas de peaje y costes para contribuyentes y usuarios

Este trabajo analiza la distribución de los riesgos en los contratos de colaboración público-privada en el sector de las autopistas de peaje y cuáles han sido las garantías otorgadas a lo largo del tiempo. Aunque se observa una mejor identificación y distribución de algunos riesgos progreso tecnológico y demanda, y un cambio en la asignación de garantías financieras, existen aún numerosos aspectos que dificultan el devenir de la industria. El declive general del tráfico aforado en todas las autopistas de peaje como consecuencia de la crisis, la construcción de vías alternativas y los costosos procesos expropiatorios de distintas concesionarias han generado importantes pérdidas en las nuevas concesiones, hasta el momento parcialmente sufragadas mediante recursos públicos. El debate sobre la solución a la crisis del sector sigue abierto, incluyendo un probable proceso de nacionalización.