El fenómeno de las sociedades municipales: un estudio comparativo de su evolución y gobernanza en Italiay y España

During the last decade, the number of local public utilities has experienced a significant increase in Europe. The provision of public services throughout this type of companies requires municipalities to establish different forms of control and regulation in order to align economic and social interests. This paper analyises the structure and composition of the Italian and Spanish systems of local public utilities and the characteristics of the governance mechanisms applied by municipalities to steer and monitor their companies. The results evidence that the ownership participation level determine the mechanism adopted by the local authorities when applying external control on public utilities.