Demand for public services such as health care and education is increasing causing the public expenditure to them to increase as well, while governments face fiscal pressure to cut spending. One solution to these contrasting demands is to privatize service provision. This research project investigates the implication of private versus public provision of services on customers utilizing the service and on employees in the service sector. A particular focus in the first part is on quality of services, whether public or private production of services yields higher quality of services holding expenditure constant. The quality of services will be investigated in extensive data for outcomes of customers of services, such as health, cognitive and schooling data. Quality differences are reflected in social inequality. The second research question is whether privatization of services leads to greater inequalities in the labor markets, e.g. due to collective bargaining agreements.

2025

2029