Contracting public sector services: A meta-analytic perspective of the international evidence

The performance framework adopted for this review includes five dimensions - economic, social, democratic, legal and political issues. This article presents summary findings from a statistical (meta-analytic) review of the performance measurements found in the available international literature on privatisation and contracting-out government services.. This enables an assessment to be made of the extent to which reform objectives appear to have been achieved in practice. The article discusses the gains which result from contracting reforms, and the extent to which these gains accrue to various stakeholders - whether community, customers, the organisation or government.