미국의 민간위탁법제에 대한 연구- OMB Circular A-76을 중심으로 -

While there are ongoing trend of increased use of contracting-out in various fields such as education, art & culture, water resources, medical service, and social welfare in Korea, many issues are discussed on the standard, limitation and procedure of contracting-out. In resolving these issues, United States contracting-out regime which has many years of experiences merits due attention from the public law perspective. The OMB Circular A-76 lies at the heart of US contracting-out regime. This Circular differentiates ‘inherently governmental activity’ and ‘commercial activity’, and allows contracting-out only in the latter type of activity. In carrying out commercial activity, competition between public sector and private sector is necessary. This ‘public-private competition’ reflects the characteristics of US contracting regime which focuses on the cost-efficiency. However, there are many critics within US to the standard and procedure of contracting-out based on OMB Circular A-76. First, ‘substantial discretion’ requirement of ‘inherently governmental activity’ makes the scope of this type too narrow, and therefore it is criticized that contracting-out is allowed virtually in every cases. Second, it is indicated that ‘public-private competition’ itself consumes too much money, and the lack of capacity of contracting officer will lead to failure of this system. In this context, public-private competition was suspended temporarily. Strengths and Weaknesses of US contracting-out regime will show many lessons to reform of Korean contracting-out regime.