This conference focuses on the recent developments in contract theories. Papers are invited on all topics of contract theories including: Relational contracting, transaction costs, renegotiations, incentives, attribution mechanisms, incomplete contracting, contract design, benchmarking, privatization, corruption, institutions.
Papers presented may be theoretical or applied. A special attention will be given to proposals addressing issues related to procurement and public-private arrangements.
Développement de la vidéoprotection publique et libertés fondamentales : Annibal ad portas[1] ?
"Il fut un moment tenté de rentrer dans un water et de le lire tout de suite. Mais il savait bien que cela aurait été une épouvantable folie. C’était l’endroit où on était le plus certain d’être continuellement surveillé par les télécrans[2] ».
Dans 1984, George Orwell décrit une société britannique fictive où les libertés fondamentales sont abolies. Les citoyens y sont surveillés jusque dans leur vie la plus intime et partout dans l’espace public, d’immenses affiches leur assènent un slogan aussi violent que déshumanisant : « Big Brother is watching you[3] ». Le personnage orwellien habite un monde effrayant où l’espace privé succombe à l’hyperphagie d’un espace public qui le phagocyte lentement. Dépossédé de son existence, inlassablement pisté et continuellement épié, il est condamné à contempler l’insoutenable : le spectacle de la violation quotidienne de sa vie privée par les yeux impudiques de l’administration d’Etat. Privé d’intimité, il expérimente le processus de déshumanisation décrit par Hannah Arendt dans Le système totalitaire, celui là même où l’intrusion systématique de l’Etat dans la vie privée des citoyens finit par les installer dans la négation destructrice de leur humanité.
On 21 March, ESPO participated in a public hearing on concessions organised by the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament. The hearing was held to compare views of industry stakeholders and academic experts on the Commission’s recent proposal for a Directive on the awarding of concessions. This proposal is part of a broader package reviewing public procurement legislation and aims to clarify the legal framework that governs the awarding of service concessions.
French municipalities often contract out the provision of local public services to private compa- nies, and regularly choose the same private operator for a range of different services. We develop a model of relational contracts that shows how this strategy may lead to better performance at lower cost for public authorities. We test the implication of our model using an original database of the contractual choices made by 5000 French local public authorities in the years 2001, 2004 and 2008.
Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, 2012, Forthcoming
In this paper we investigate the relationship between cost and number of bidders for local transportation contracts in London. Using an original database on 806 calls for tender on local bus transportation routes we find that a higher number of bidders is associated with a lower cost of service. This finding, in addition of being one of the few empirical tests of a crucial theoretical issue, has important policy implications, especially for countries in which bids are organized such that only few bidders are allowed to participate (e.g. France). More precisely, our results point out that the allotment of an urban transport network may be a source of significant costs reductions.
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament. The hearing was held to compare views of industry stakeholders and academic experts on the Commission’s recent proposal for a Directive on the awarding of concessions. This proposal is part of a broader package reviewing public procurement legislation and aims to clarify the legal framework that governs the awarding of service concessions.
