Contracting has become one of the tools that governments use to make their services more efficient and effective. This work studies the positives and negatives involved with the multiple elements of contracting. Contract culture is broken down into its many parts: rules and regulations, norms and values, local governments and the private sector. This allows the authors to examine the topic through a unique cross-cultural lens and provide a fresh take on this expanding topic.

Sources such as survey data, in-depth case studies, and analysis of advocacy coalitions are used to shed new light on contract governance. Topics include: *Contracting on the Public Agenda. *Limits of the New Contractualism. *The hard and soft elements of contracts. *Local Governments. *Contracting as part of the New Public Management.

"Using the term contracting in order to avoid the emotional and political implications of the synonymous terms privatization and contracting, Greve (U. of Copenhagen) and Ejersbo (U. of Southern Denmark) report the findings of their four-year research project into how contracting is practiced and understood in Scandinavia and the US. They look at the processes and institutions of contracting both within the public sector and between public purchasers and private providers of public services. Several of the chapters have been presented to scientific conferences." - Reference & Research Book News

Carsten Greve, PhD is associate professor at the Copenhagen Business School. He has published his work in journals such as Public Management Review and Governance and Public Administration.

Niels Ejersbo, Ph.D. is associate professor of public management and Department Chair at the University of Southern Denmark. He has published articles in the U.S. and internationally.