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Corporatisation in Spanish Local Government: Governing the Diversity

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Corporatisation in Local Government

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Abstract

Research on municipally owned corporations (MOCs) has recently focused on disclosing the potential benefits that this organisational form has over traditional procurement models and the determinants of their adoption across local governments. However, MOCs entail multiple challenges that could hinder their performance, such as having private sector actors within their boards. Although there is some evidence on various characteristics of MOCs from different countries, we do not have a comprehensive review of these organisational forms in most OECD countries. In the present chapter, we focus on describing the use and the nature of MOCs in Spain. In doing so, we discuss the institutional and regulatory framework of Spain, and how that limits the types of organisational forms that can be used to implement public services: Autonomous Organisation; Business Public Entity; and Local Commercial Company. Then, we review the legal characteristics of Spanish MOCs. Next, we provide a radiography of the current state of MOCs in Spain, debating their use and main characteristics. Finally, we conclude by delving into the organisational and decision-making process in Spanish MOCs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    An exception to the low impact on public and political debate on corporatisation exists in the region of Catalonia, where political controversy about the expansion of corporatisation of Health services instead of preserving traditional in-house production has been intense. However, management of health services in Spain depends on regional governments rather than local governments, and therefore this debate goes beyond the scope of this contribution. Bel and Esteve (2022) provide detailed information on the organisational structure of health services across Spanish regions.

  2. 2.

    Although this type may also include other local government levels, for the sake of simplicity we call them MOCs as well.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Germà Bel

  2. University College London, London, UK

    Marc Esteve

  3. Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Juan Carlos Garrido-Rodríguez & José Luis Zafra-Gómez

Authors
  1. Germà Bel
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  2. Marc Esteve
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  3. Juan Carlos Garrido-Rodríguez
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  4. José Luis Zafra-Gómez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Germà Bel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marieke Van Genugten

  2. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Bart Voorn

  3. Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Rhys Andrews

  4. Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Ulf Papenfuß

  5. Department of Social Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø/Harstad, Norway

    Harald Torsteinsen

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Bel, G., Esteve, M., Garrido-Rodríguez, J.C., Zafra-Gómez, J.L. (2023). Corporatisation in Spanish Local Government: Governing the Diversity. In: Van Genugten, M., Voorn, B., Andrews, R., Papenfuß, U., Torsteinsen, H. (eds) Corporatisation in Local Government. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09982-3_15

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