Using private firms to carry out aspects of government. This has become increasingly popular since the early 1980s as governments have tried to obtain some of the benefits of the private sector without going as far as full privatization. The gains have been greatest when services have been allocated to private firms through competitive bidding. They have been smallest, and arguably even negative, in cases when the main contribution of the private firm has been to raise finance. That is because governments can usually borrow more cheaply than private firms, so when they ask them to raise money the question that springs to mind is: are they doing this to make their public borrowing look smaller?