The nature of a public service.

Spicker, Paul

Abstract

Public services have been misunderstood. They are not simply services in the public sector, they are not necessarily there because of market failure, and they cannot be analysed by the same criteria as market-based provision. They have four defining characteristics. They exist for reasons of policy; they provide services to the public; they are redistributive; and they act as a trust. They consequently operate differently from production for profit, in their priorities, costs, capacity and outputs.

Citation

SPICKER, P. 2009. The nature of a public service. International journal of public administration [online], 32(11), pages 970-991. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/01900690903050927

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 10, 2009
• Online Publication Date: Sep 10, 2009
• Publication Date: Oct 14, 2009
• Deposit Date: Oct 2, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 2, 2013
• Journal: International journal of public administration
• Print ISSN: 0190-0692
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-4265
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 970-991
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01900690903050927
• Keywords: Public services; Market failure; Social services
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/877