Behavior of urban public authorities operating in competitive markets - Policy outcomes in mass transit

An old administrative adage has reemerged in public organizational studies that views government agencies as corporate-like in behavior and policy mak ing. The new twist in this enterprise thesis is the emphasis placed on comp etitive market conditions in determining how policy outcomes are patterned to favor some stakeholders over others. Applying regression analysis to a s ample of 42 urban transit agencies, the study finds market conditions pose significant influence an skewing policy outcomes but do not necessarily cau se a trade-off harmful to social-program clients. One implication is that i ntroducing market conditions into the environment of public agencies may be a superior reform option to privatization.