References

• Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR). (1973). City financial emergencies: The intergovernmental dimension. Washington, DC: ACIR.
   Google Scholar
• Alesina, A., & Rosenthal, H. (1994). Partisan politics, divided governments, and the economy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Andrews, R. (2011). New public management and the search for efficiency. In T. Christensen & P. Lægreid (Eds.), The Ashgate research companion to new public management, Part V, Chapter XIX (pp. 281–294). Farnham, UK: Ashgate Editorial.
   Google Scholar
• Ashworth, J., Geys, B., & Heyndels, B. (2005). Government weakness and local public debt development in Flemish municipalities. International Tax and Public Finance, 12, 395–422. doi:10.1007/s10797-005-2317-3
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Audit Commission. (2007). Use of resources. Guidance for councils. London: Audit Commission.
   Google Scholar
• Balaguer-Coll, M. T. (2001). Análisis de la situación en la administración local. Una Aplicación a los ayuntamientos de la Comunidad Valenciana (Doctoral Thesis). Universidad Jaume I, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Económicas.
   Google Scholar
• Balaguer-Coll, M. T., Prior, D., & Tortosa-Ausina, E. (2007). On the determinants of local government performance: A two-stage nonparametric approach. European Economic Review, 51(2), 425–451. doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2006.01.007
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bel, G., & Fageda, X. (2006). Between privatization and inter-municipal cooperation: Small municipalities, scale economies and transaction costs. Urban Public Economics Review, 6, 13–31.
   Google Scholar
• Bel, G., & Fageda, X. (2007). Why do local governments privatise public services? A survey of empirical studies. Local Government Studies, 33(4), 517–534. doi:10.1080/03003930701417528
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bel, G., & Fageda, X. (2010). Empirical analysis of solid management waste costs: Some evidence from Galicia, Spain. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(3), 187–193. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.07.015
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bel, G., & Warner, M. (2008). Challenging issues in local privatization. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26(1), 104–109. doi:10.1068/c2601ed
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Benito, B., & Bastida, F. (2008). Política y gestión financiera municipal. Revista de Contabilidad – Spanish Accounting Review, 11(2), 55–78.
   Google Scholar
• Boyne, G. A. (1996). Scale, performance and the new public management: An empirical analysis of local authority services. Journal of Management Studies, 33(6), 809–826. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.1996.tb00173.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Boyne, G. A. (1998). Bureaucratic theory meets reality: Public choice and service contracting in U.S. local government. Public Administration Review, 58(6), 474–484. doi:10.2307/977575
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brown, T. L., & Potoski, M. (2003). Transaction costs and institutional explanations for government service production decisions. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13(4), 441–468. doi:10.1093/jopart/mug030
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brown, T. L., Potoski, M., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2008). Changing modes of service delivery: How past choices structure future choices. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26(1), 127–143. doi:10.1068/c0633
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brown, T. L., Potoski, M., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2010). Contracting for complex products. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20(Suppl. 1), i41–i58. doi:10.1093/jopart/mup034
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brudney, J., Fernandez, S., Ryu, J., & Wright, D. (2005). Exploring and explaining contracting out: Patterns among the American states. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(3), 393–419. doi:10.1093/jopart/mui019
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brusca, I., Mora, L., & Montesinos, V. (2012). La descentralización de servicios en el sector local: Factores explicativos e implicaciones contables. Revista Española de Financiación y Contabilidad-Spanish Journal of Finance and Accounting, 41(153), 143–162.
   Google Scholar
• Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA). (1997). Indicators of government financial condition. Toronto: CICA.
   Google Scholar
• Carmeli, A. (2008). The fiscal distress of local governments in Israel: Sources and coping strategies. Administration and Society, 39(8), 984–1007. doi:10.1177/0095399707309358
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chiriboga, M. (1994). Descentralización, Municipalización y Desarrollo local: La Experiencia en América Latina. Seminario sobre el desarrollo local en América Latina hacia el siglo XXI, San José, 8–10 June.
   Google Scholar
• Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P. (2006). The whole of government approach – regulation, performance and public sector reform. Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies, Working Paper 6, UNIFOB, August, Bergen, Norway.
   Google Scholar
• Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P. (2008). NPM and beyond – structure, culture and demography. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(1), 7–23. doi:10.1177/0020852307085730
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P. (2011). Beyond NPM? Some development features. In T. Christensen & P. Lægreid (Eds.), The Ashgate research companion to new public management, Part VI, Chapter XXVII (pp. 391–404). Farnham, UK: Ashgate Editorial.
   Google Scholar
• Christoffersen, H., & Larsen, K. B. (2007). Economies of scale in Danish municipalities: Expenditure effects versus quality effects. Local Government Studies, 33(1), 77–95. doi:10.1080/03003930601081283
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Clark, T. (1994). Municipal fiscal strain: Indicator and causes. Government Finance Review, 10(3), 27–29.
   Google Scholar
• Copeland, R. E., & Ingram, R. (1983). Municipal financial reporting and disclosure quality. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
   Google Scholar
• Diefenbach, T. (2009). New public management in public sector organizations: The dark sides of managerialistic “enlightenment”. Public Administration, 87(4), 892–909. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2009.01766.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dijkgraaf, E., Gradus, R. H. J. M., & Melenberg, B. (2003). Contracting out refuse collection. Empirical Economics, 28(3), 553–570. doi:10.1007/s001810200145
   Google Scholar
• Dollery, B., Crase, L., & Byrnes, J. (2006). Local government failure: Why does Australian local government experience permanent financial austerity? Australian Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 339–353. doi:10.1080/10361140600848952
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Douglas, J. W., & Gaddie, R. K. (2002). State rainy day funds and fiscal crises: Rainy day funds and the 1990–1991 recession revisited. Public Budgeting and Finance, 22(1), 19–30. doi:10.1111/1540-5850.00063
   Google Scholar
• Dubin, J., & Navarro, P. (1988). How markets for impure public goods organize: The case of household refuse collection. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 4(2), 217–241.
   Google Scholar
• Dutton, J. E. (1986). The processing of crisis and non-crisis strategic issues. Journal of Management Studies, 23(5), 501–517. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986.tb00434.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). (1987). Concepts statement of objectives of financial reporting (Concepts Statement No. 1). Norwalk, CT: GASB.
   Google Scholar
• Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). (1999). Statement of basic financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for state and local governments (Statement of Governmental Accounting Standards Board No. 34). Norwalk, CT: GASB.
   Google Scholar
• Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). (2004). Statement of economic condition reporting; the statistical section – An amendment of NCGA Statement 1 (Statement of Governmental Accounting Standards Board No. 44). Norwalk, CT: GASB.
   Google Scholar
• Greenberg, J., & Hillier, D. (1995). Indicators of financial condition for governments. Paper presented at the 5th Conference of Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research, Paris-Amy, France, No date.
   Google Scholar
• Greene, W. H. (2000). Econometric analysis (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
   Google Scholar
• Groves, M., Godsey, W., & Shulman, M. (2003). Evaluating financial condition: A handbook of local government (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: The International City/County Management Association.
   Google Scholar
• Guillamón, M. D., Benito, B., & Bastida, F. (2011). Evaluación de la deuda pública local en España. Spanish Journal of Finance and Accounting/Revista Española de Financiación y Contabilidad, 40(150), 251–285. doi:10.1080/02102412.2011.10779703
   Google Scholar
• Hagen, T. P., & Vabo, S. I. (2005). Political characteristics, institutional procedures and fiscal performance: Panel data analyses of Norwegian local governments, 1991–1998. European Journal of Political Research, 44(1), 43–64. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00218.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hart, O., & Moore, J. (1990). Property rights and the nature of the firm. Journal of Political Economy, 98(6), 1119–1158. doi:10.1086/261729
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hebdon, R., & Jalette, P. (2008). The restructuring of municipal services: A Canada–United States comparison. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26(1), 144–158. doi:10.1068/c0634
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hefetz, A., & Warner, M. (2012). Contracting or public delivery? The importance of service, market and management characteristics. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(2), 289–317. doi:10.1093/jopart/mur006
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Honadle, B. W. (2003). The states’ role in U.S. local government fiscal crises: A theoretical model and results of a national survey. International Journal of Public Administration, 26(13), 1431–1472. doi:10.1081/PAD-120024405
   Google Scholar
• Hood, C. (1995). The “new public management” in the 1980s: Variations on a theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20, 93–109. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(93)E0001-W
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hsiao, C. (1985). Benefits and limitations of panel data. Econometric Reviews, 4, 121–174. doi:10.1080/07474938508800078
   Google Scholar
• International City/County Management Association (ICMA). (1989). Service delivery in the 90s: Alternative approaches for local governments. Washington, DC: ICMA.
   Google Scholar
• International City/County Management Association (ICMA). (2003). Evaluating financial condition: A handbook for local government (4th ed.). Washington, DC: ICMA.
   Google Scholar
• Jones, B. D., True, J. L., & Baumgartner, F. R. (1997). Does incrementalism stem from political consensus or from institutional gridlock? American Journal of Political Science, 41(4), 1319–1339. doi:10.2307/2960491
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Klevmarken, N. A. (1989). Panel studies: What can we learn from them? Introduction. European Economic Review, 33, 523–529. doi:10.1016/0014-2921(89)90131-1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kloha, P., Weissert, C. S., & Kleine, R. (2005a). Developing and testing a composite model to predict local fiscal distress. Public Administration Review, 65(3), 313–323. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2005.00456.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kloha, P., Weissert, C. S., & Kleine, R. (2005b). Developing and testing a composite model to predict local fiscal distress. Public Administration Review, 65(3), 313–323. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2005.00456.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lavery, K. (1999). Smart contracting for local government services: Processes and experience. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
   Google Scholar
• Levin, J., & Tadelis, S. (2005). Contracting for government services: Theory and evidence from U.S. cities. Stanford University, Mimeo.
   Google Scholar
• Maddala, G. S. (1983). Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• McFadden, D. (2001). Economic choices. The American Economic Review, 91(3), 351–378. doi:10.1257/aer.91.3.351
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• McFadden, D., & Train, K. (2000). Mixed MNL models for discrete response. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 15(5), 447–470. doi:10.1002/1099-1255(200009/10)15:5<447::AID-JAE570>3.0.CO;2-1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Miller, G. J., & Svara, J. H. (2009). Navigating the fiscal crisis: Tested strategies for local leaders. Washington, DC: The International City/County Management Association.
   Google Scholar
• Mohr, R., Deller, S. C., & Halstead, J. M. (2010). Alternative methods of service delivery in small and rural municipalities. Public Administration Review, 70(6), 894–905. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02221.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Mora-Agudo, L., & Montesinos-Julve, V. (2007). Relación entre descentralización administrativa y disciplina presupuestaria en los grandes municipios españoles. Spanish Journal of Finance and Accounting / Revista Española de Financiación y Contabilidad, 36(136), 727–755. doi:10.1080/02102412.2007.10779634
   Google Scholar
• Niskanen, Jr., W. (1971). Bureaucracy and representative government. Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company.
   Google Scholar
• Osborne, D., & Gaebler, T. (1992). Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
   Google Scholar
• Peters, B. G. (2011). Governance responses to the fiscal crisis – comparative perspectives. Public Money and Management, 31(1), 75–80. doi:10.1080/09540962.2011.545551
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pollitt, C. (2009). Bureaucracies remember, post-bureaucratic organizations forget? Public Administration, 87(2), 198–218. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.01738.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Queeneville, M. V., Laurin, C., & Thibodeu, N. (2010). The long run performance of decentralized agencies in Quebec: A multidimensional assessment. In P. Lægreid & K. Verhoest (Eds.), Governance of public sector organizations. Proliferation, autonomy and performance, Part III, Chapter VIII (pp. 157–176). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
   Google Scholar
• Rabe-Hesketh, S., Skrondal, A., & Pickles, A. (2004). Generalized multilevel structural equation modeling. Psychometrika, 69(2), 167–190. doi:10.1007/BF02295939
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rhodes, R. A. W. (1996). The new governance: Governing without government. Political Studies, 44, 652–667. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1996.tb01747.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ribot, J. (2001, July). Local actors, powers and accountability in African decentralizations: A review of issues. International Development Research Centre of Canada Assessment of Social Policy Reforms Initiative, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva.
   Google Scholar
• Rodrigues, M., Tavares, A. F., & Araújo, J. F. (2012). Municipal service delivery: The role of transaction costs in the choice between alternative governance mechanisms. Local Government Studies, 38(5), 615–638. doi:10.1080/03003930.2012.666211
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rubin, I., & Stein, L. (1990). Budget reform in St. Louis: Why does budgeting change? Public Administration Review, 50(4), 420–426.
   Google Scholar
• Sappington, D. E. M., & Stiglitz, J. E. (1987). Privatization, information and incentives. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 6(4), 567–579. doi:10.2307/3323510
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Shleifer, A. (1998). State versus private ownership. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(4), 133–150. doi:10.1257/jep.12.4.133
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stark, A. (2002). What is the new public management? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 12(1), 137–151. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a003520
   Google Scholar
• Train, T. E. (2003). Discrete choice methods with simulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Van Helden, G. J. (2000). Is financial stress an incentive for the adoption of businesslike planning and control in local government? A comparative study of eight Dutch municipalities. Financial Accountability and Management, 16(1), 83–100. doi:10.1111/1468-0408.00098
   Google Scholar
• Verhoest, K., Verschuere, B., Meyers, F., & Sulle, A. (2010). Performance of public sector organizations: Do managerial tools matter? In P. Lægreid & K. Verhoest (Eds.), Governance of public sector organizations. Proliferation, autonomy and performance, Part III, Chapter XI (pp. 211–234). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
   Google Scholar
• Walls, M., Macauley, M., & Anderson, S. (2005). Private markets, contracts, and government provision: What explains the organization of local waste and recycling markets? Urban Affairs Review, 40(5), 590–613. doi:10.1177/1078087404273342
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wang, X., Dennis, L., & Tu, Y. S. (2007). Measuring financial condition: A study of U.S. states. Public Budgeting and Finance, 27(2), 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5850.2007.00872.x
   Google Scholar
• Warner, M. (2006). Market-based governance and the challenge for rural governments: US trends. Social Policy and Administration: An International Journal of Policy Research, 40(6), 612–631. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9515.2006.00523.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Warner, M., & Hefetz, A. (2003). Rural-urban differences in privatization: Limits to the competitive state. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 21(5), 703–718. doi:10.1068/c008r
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wooldridge, J. M. (2002). Introductory econometrics: A modern approach (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson, South-Western.
   Google Scholar
• Zafra-Gómez, J. L., & Muñiez-Pérez, M. A. (2010). Overcoming cost-inefficiencies within small municipalities: Improve financial condition or reduce the quality of public services? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 28(4), 609–629. doi:10.1068/c09118
   Google Scholar
• Zafra-Gómez, J. L., Lopez-Hernández, A. M., & Hernández-Bastida, A. (2009a). Developing a model to measure financial condition in local government: Evaluating service quality and minimizing the effects of the socioeconomic environment: An application to Spanish municipalities. The American Review of Public Administration, 39(4), 425–449. doi:10.1177/0275074008320710
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zafra-Gómez, J. L., Lopez-Hernández, A. M., & Hernández-Bastida, A. (2009b). Evaluating financial performance in local government: Maximizing the benchmarking value. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 151–167. doi:10.1177/0020852308099510
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zafra-Gómez, J. L., Prior, D., Plata-Diaz, A. M., & López-Hernández, A. M. (2013). Reducing costs in times of crisis: Delivery forms in small and medium sized local governments’ waste management services. Public Administration, 91(1), 51–68. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.02012.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zullo, R. (2009). Does fiscal stress induce privatization? Correlates of private and intermunicipal contracting, 1992–2002. Governance, 22(3), 459–481. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01447.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar