Promises and pitfalls of contracting for public services: the lawa case

Historically, public services were provided by public institutions because they were seen as either the best-insulated or most sensitive to public sentiments. Today, the fusing of public responsibility with private expertise draws on research and theory stretching from Taylor’s scientific management to Osborne and Gaebler’s reengineering of government. This paper focuses on the historical promises and pitfalls that have come to define public service contracting in the twenty-first century. It describes the experiences of the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) with purchase of service contracts. The exploration of LAWA’s approach provides insight on how managers meet the community’s needs for efficiency and equity by capitalizing on contracting for public services.