The Public to Private Continuum Measure and the Role of Stakeholder Boards as a Proxy for Markets in the Governance of Air Navigation Services: A Comparative Analysis

This article studies institutional arrangements for governance of air navigation services employing a comparative analysis of six nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In each of these countries other than the United States, a board of directors composed of stakeholder representatives manages an independent air navigation services organization that is not a traditional government bureau.In this article we assess how boards of public organizations can act as a proxy for market feedback in the provision of public services. We use this concept to develop a more sensitive measure of the degree of publicness and privateness in organizations. We test our Public-Private Continuum Measure using a comparative analysis of air navigation services in six countries. Our Public-Private Continuum Measure advances the measurement of the public to private continuum from the use of an ordinal measure to a continuous measure. Further research is needed to test this measure in studies that place organizations on the continuum and determine how the degree of public-privateness correlates with organizational performance measures. Armed with this tool, governments can make more accurate decisions about the degree of public-privateness desired for the provision of public goods