Contract and Voucher in Public Service Delivery; Institutional Design and Rule Making

在本研究中，澄清了提供高效率和高质量公共服务的现状和问题，并考虑了日本提供公共服务的可能方法：除了公共行政部门直接提供外，还可以通过合同、指定管理人制度和凭证（准市场）的方式。此外，还确定了被视为公共服务的重要提供者之一的第三部门组织的现状和面临的挑战。所指出的问题包括：消除竞争的唯一来源合同仍然经常用于承包和指定管理人制度，市场准入仅限于凭证制度中的特定司法人员。我们对这些问题提出了可能的解决办法，例如，引入基于绩效的合同，以确保对公共资金的使用负责，同时在合同和指定经理制度的情况下保护私人组织的自主权。在可能的领域，应采用代金券制度，以允许用户在不同的服务提供者之间进行选择和竞争。除了完善上述的制度设计外，还需要构建一些规则，例如签订类似英国Compact的协议，在君子协议的基础上制定政府和志愿部门共同遵守的操作规则。建立一个计算项目全部成本的方法，包括间接成本，是另一个。

In this research, the current situation and the issues in providing efficient and quality public services were clarified, having considered the possible methods of public service delivery in Japan: by means of contract, the designated manager system and voucher (quasi-market), in addition to direct delivery by Public Administration. Moreover, the present state and the challenges faced by third sector organizations, which are viewed as one of significant providers of public services, were also identified.The problems that were indicated included: that sole source contracts where competition is eliminated remain frequently employed in contracting and in the designated manager system, and that market entry is restricted to specific judicial personalities in the voucher system. We suggest possible solutions to these problems such as introducing performance-based contracting to ensure accountability for the use of public funds, while protecting autonomy of private organizations at the same time, in the cases of contracting and the designated manager system. In the fields where possible, a voucher system should be introduced to allow user choice and competition among diverse service providers.In addition to improving the institutional designs as above, structuring of certain rules is also required, such as concluding an agreement similar to Compact in the UK, which sets out rules of operation to be followed by both the Government and the voluntary sector based on a gentlemen’s agreement. Establishing a method of calculating the full costs of projects, including the overhead costs, is another.