Adapting Accountability and Emerging Challenges: Contracting-Out in the Transport Sector in Switzerland, Norway and Sweden

Authors

  • Eva Lieberherr Natural Resource Policy (NARP), Institute for Environmental Decisions, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
  • Lisa Hansson Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College - Specialized University in Logistics, Norway
  • Merethe Dotterud Leiren Institute of Transport Economics; Center for International Climate Research (CICERO), Norway
  • Jonas Schmid Natural Resource Policy (NARP), Institute for Environmental Decisions, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v23i2.8656

Keywords:

contracting-out, accountability, public transport, comparative case study, agency

Abstract

Government reforms such as contracting-out continue to influence public service provision within infrastructure sectors. Contracting-out involves a detachment of the operators from political decision-making and the creation of intermediary procurement agencies. These reforms therefore tend to require an adaptation of how accountability is implemented. Previously, elected officials delegated their democratic authority (vested in them through public votes) to the public administration and thus more or less controlled service delivery. We address how accountability has been adapted in the context of contracting-out and the challenges that have emerged. We are primarily interested in assessing the ability of the political body to maintain control and the relationship between private service providers, citizens and customers. Using a multiple case study design, we select cases from the public transport sectors at the regional level in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland that represent different contracting-out models. We find that with increasing degrees of autonomy from the state (the two Nordic cases) there are both more adaptations to accountability and also more challenges emerge than the model with direct political control (the Swiss case). The central challenges arise between political- administrative and agency accountability with the involvement of a procurement agency. This has led to reforms to re-integrate the intermediary procurement agencies back into the country administration.

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Author Biographies

Eva Lieberherr, Natural Resource Policy (NARP), Institute for Environmental Decisions, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland

Eva Lieberherr (PhD) leads the research group Natural Resource Policy (NARP) at the Institute for Environmental Decisions, Department of Environmental Systems Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). She has lectured at the University of Berne, University of Zurich and at ETH (all in Switzerland). Her research is applied and problem-driven, addressing socio-ecological challenges such as the use and protection of natural resources like water, forest and landscape. Her publications also address the governance of infrastructure sectors such as water supply, sanitation and transport.

Lisa Hansson, Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College - Specialized University in Logistics, Norway

Lisa Hansson (PhD) is Associate Professor in Political Science at Molde University College – Specialized University in Logistics, Norway. She has a PhD in Technology and Social Change from Linköping University and has previously worked at Linköping University and the Swedish Road and Transport Institute, VTI. Her research is mainly within transport policy and sustainable urban development, addressing aspects related to regulatory governance, competitive tendering and socio- technical change.

Merethe Dotterud Leiren, Institute of Transport Economics; Center for International Climate Research (CICERO), Norway

Merethe Dotterud Leiren (PhD) is Senior Researcher and Political Scientist at CICERO – Center for International Climate Research, Norway. She worked at the Institute of Transport Economics, Norway, when working on this article. She has been a Research Fellow at University of Agder, and Guest Researcher at the Humboldt University Berlin. She is particularly interested in dilemmas related to the balance between climate/environmental policy, social policy and economic efficiency in multi-level governance systems, where regulations at one political level creates challenges at other political levels. Her publications address transport, energy and climate policies.

Jonas Schmid, Natural Resource Policy (NARP), Institute for Environmental Decisions, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland

Jonas Schmid (MA) is a PhD-Candidate at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He holds a MA- degree in Political Science from ETH Zürich and the University of Zurich and has previously worked in environmental consulting. Jonas’ research focuses on federal and direct democratic practice in Switzerland, but also on effects of digitalization on political institutions. His publications address technology and cybersecurity governance, public-private partnerships, Swiss political institutions and the Swiss sustainable energy transition.

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Published

2019-06-15

How to Cite

Lieberherr, E., Hansson, L., Dotterud Leiren, M., & Schmid, J. (2019). Adapting Accountability and Emerging Challenges: Contracting-Out in the Transport Sector in Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 23(2), 57–77. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v23i2.8656

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