The impact of contracting out on the costs of refuse collection services: The case of Ireland

This paper examines the impact of contracting out on the costs incurred by local authorities in providing refuse collection services. Using original s urvey data for the Republic of Ireland, three methods of estimating the imp act of tendering are adopted. Crude comparisons of costs before and after t endering and the costs of local authorities versus private contractors indi cate that tendering can yield savings of between 34 and 45 per cent. Using multivariate regression analysis to enable us to control for service charac teristics confirms cost savings of around 45 per cent. The bulk of these co st savings are attributed to real efficiency gains as a result of contracti ng out.