This research examines how institutional contexts matter for US municipalities' service outsourcing decisions, deriving data from the ICMA's multiple rounds of surveys concerning local institutions and service delivery choices. We focus on seven pivotal local institutions that address managerial professionalism, mayoral strength, and electoral rules. Moreover, a composite index measuring the general nature of the municipal structure on a political–administrative scale is constructed based on the local institutions examined. The empirical estimations use the existence of initiatives and popular referenda allowing citizen voters to adjust local statutes as instrumental variables for local institutions. We find that municipalities with a council-manager municipal form, a professional manager, a weak mayor, and nonpartisan and at-large elections of council members outsource less services. Professional managers can moderate the effects of contextual factors on government outsourcing decisions. Moreover, municipalities with a more political or a less administrative municipal structure outsource a larger portion of services.

中文翻译：

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地方机构和公共服务外包：管理专业性、市长实力和选举规则

本研究从 ICMA 对当地机构和服务提供选择的多轮调查中获取数据，考察了制度环境对美国市政当局的服务外包决策有何影响。我们专注于解决管理专业精神、市长实力和选举规则的七个关键地方机构。此外，根据考察的地方机构，构建了一个综合指数，衡量政治-行政规模上的市政结构的一般性质。实证估计利用倡议和全民公投的存在，允许公民选民调整地方法规作为地方机构的工具变量。我们发现，具有理事会经理市政形式的市政当局，职业经理人，软市长，理事会成员的无党派和一般会员选举外包较少的服务。职业经理人可以调节环境因素对政府外包决策的影响。此外，具有较多政治或较少行政管理的市政结构的市政当局将较大部分的服务外包。