Effective competitive markets should have several characteristics:
  • relatively simple and reliable ways to assess product quality;
  • equality (or symmetry) of information among consumers;
  • low needs for regulation related to safety or equity;
  • independence of purchasing acts;
  • no third-party payments.
---Willis D. Hawley. 1995. The False Premises and False Promises of the Movement to Privatize Public Education. Teachers College Record 96(4): 737