Pragmatic remunicipalisation across diverse geographies in the US

Abstract How do place characteristics (markets, politics, need and capacity) affect levels of remunicipalisation? Using national surveys (2012–2017) that cover 70 commonly provided public services by 539 local governments across the US, we find two thirds of respondents remunicipalised at least one service. The level of remunicipalisation was higher in larger places with more poverty, and lower in places with more competitive markets and better contract management. Contract reversals were higher in social services than in physical networked services. The places that did not remunicipalise were more constrained by partisan politics (Republican), faced greater state limits on local tax and expenditure and had lower rates of unionisation. Northeast and Southern municipalities showed higher levels of remunicipalisation despite differences in political orientation. Remunicipalisation is higher in cities than suburbs or rural communities, but is found in both declining and growing places. Remunicipalisation is part of pragmatic market management within political constraints.