Author: Judith Clifton
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475737335
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 178
Get Book
Book Description
Judith Clifton, Francisco Comín and Daniel Díaz Fuentes in Privatisation in the European Union reject the two dominant explanations provided in literature, which include a simple 'Americanisation' of policy and a 'varied' privatisation experience without a common driving force. Using a systematic comparative analysis of privatisation experiences in each country from the 1980s to the beginning of the twenty first century, the authors show how the process of European integration and the need for internationally competitive industries have constituted key driving forces in the quest for privatisation across the EU. As privatisation slows down at the turn of the millennium, what future can citizens expect for public enterprises? Privatisation in the European Union is essential reading for researchers, students and policy-makers interested in privatisation, EU policy and the history of public enterprises.
Author: European Commission
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789279216367
Category : Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Get Book
Book Description
This monograph gives an overview of the privatisation process in services of general interest in Europe and its outcomes, elaborating in particular on its consequences for the European social model. In the first parts, the history of privatisation is discussed, including its timing, rationale and drivers. An overview of different types of privatisation is also given as well as of the accompanying processes. Then the publication looks in detail into the economic outcomes, especially in the context of the underlying assumptions which justified decisions to launch the privatisation processes. It finds that most of the positive effects expected did not materialise at all or were very minor. As regards the creation of competitive markets, for example, increased competition was only achieved in countries and sectors that had a state monopoly at the outset. On the other hand, when a number of regional or local monopolies existed, market concentration increased as larger companies bought up their smaller competitors. Liberalisation and privatisation of public services also fundamentally challenged the traditional labour relations regime in the public sector, resulting in a two-tier system of stable bargaining structures within the incumbent firms, and decentralised and fragmented bargaining structures among new competitors, leading to lower employment standards. The advocates of shifting from public monopoly promised cheaper and better services, and that reduced prices would boost demand and create more jobs. However, the reality proved different, with rising atypical forms of employment and only minor productivity gains, driven mainly by lower labour input combined with other cost cutting strategies that led to a deterioration of employment and working conditions. Liberalisation and privatisation have also had some positive, as well as negative, effects on service quality. Furthermore, the publication argues that these processes have had adverse effects on the European Social Model as they resulted in lower social cohesion in access to good-quality public services. The publication draws implications for public policy, focusing in particular on the key phases of the privatisation process, the market regulation processes which need to be in place and the impact of privatisation on employment, industrial relations, productivity and profitability, and service quality -- EU Bookshop.
Author: Marica Frangakis
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230250688
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 269
Get Book
Book Description
This book addresses the EU as powerful driver of the wave of privatizations in the network industries and public services since the early 1990s. Based on theoretical arguments and empirical studies it examines the impact of these policies on what is regarded as the normative pillars of the European Social Model.
Author: Maarten Keune
Publisher:
ISBN: 9782874521355
Category : Europäische Union
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Get Book
Book Description
Author: Massimo Florio
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1786439034
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Get Book
Book Description
Network industries such as electricity, gas, rail, local public transport, telecommunications and postal services are recognised by the EU as crucial for fostering European social and territorial cohesion. Providing an overview of key policy reforms in these industries and an empirical evaluation, this thought-provoking book offers a critical perspective on the functioning of the networks that provide vital services to EU citizens.
Author: David Parker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113473350X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Get Book
Book Description
The book identifies different national characteristics in terms of the motivation to privatise, the scale of privatization and its consequences. In the opening chapters there is a detailed overview of the theoretical economic issues involved in privatisation and an assessment of privatization across the EU. The remaining ten chapters contain national case studies of EU countries which review the history of state ownership and privatization in each of these countries and evaluate the extent of privatisation. The role of European Commission directives in deregulating markets and stimulating privatisation is also examined.
Author: Willem Hulsink
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134679947
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Get Book
Book Description
This book combines a detailed, sector-specific study of comparative telecommunications regimes set in the context of the EC, with an extensive historical and empirical analysis of individual policy management and change as experienced by three diverse regulatory cultures, namely, Britain, the Netherlands and France. By adopting a comprehensive analytical framework based on far-reaching literature, the author explores a wide-range of theories, addressing key issues at the forefront of contemporary political and academic debate as: Do nation states matter in the globalizing telecommunications industry? Does the common challenge of techno-global telecommunications restructuring elicit different national responses? What is the significance of a single-speed or multi-speed Europe in implementing telecommunications governance regimes?
Author: Marko Köthenbürger
Publisher: CESifo Seminar
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 456
Get Book
Book Description
Experts evaluate the varied outcomes of privatization experiences in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. The trend toward privatization, which began with privatization experiments in the UK under Margaret Thatcher and the deregulation of the telecommunications sector in the United States, has attracted the attention of policymakers over the past two decades. Privatization is broadly supported by most academic economists, but the results of actual privatization efforts seem mixed. In the UK, for example, telecom rates fell sharply after privatization, but privatized rail service was widely perceived to have declined dramatically in quality. In this CESifo volume, international experts examine the experiences of 10 EU countries, evaluating the real outcomes of privatization policies in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.The effects of privatization--which includes not only changes in ownership of public activitiesand entities but also liberalization of markets and deregulation--are difficult to distinguish from the effects of other economywide influences. The studies in this volume meet this methodological challenge by using a well-defined set of criteria, including reducing consumer prices, increasing quantity, and improving quality, by which to make their assessments. Background chapters provide a conceptual framework for considering the issues. Contributors Pablo Arocena, Sean D. Barrett, Ansgar Belke, Michel Berne, Henrik Christoffersen, Andrea Goldstein, Günter Knieps, David Newbery, Martin Paldam, David Parker, Gérard Pogorel, Friedrich Schneider, Eric van Damme, Ingo Vogelsang, Johan Willner
Author: Christoph Hermann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136316183
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Get Book
Book Description
Public services throughout Europe have undergone dramatic restructuring processes in recent years in connection with liberalization and privatization. While evaluations of the successes of public services have focused on prices and efficiency, much less attention has been paid to the impacts of liberalization and privatization on employment, labor relations, and working conditions. This book addresses this gap by illustrating the ways in which liberalization has contributed to increasing private and foreign ownership of public services, the decentralization of labor relations has amplified pressure on wages, and decreasing employment numbers and increasing workloads have improved productivity partly at the cost of service quality. Examining diverse public-service sectors including network industries, public transportation, and hospitals, and using international case studies, Privatization of Public Services covers a wide range of aspects of service provision, with particular emphasis on companies and workers. The result is a unique picture of the changes created by the liberalization processes in Europe.
Author: Hellmut Wollmann
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137574992
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Get Book
Book Description
This book presents comparative analyses and accounts of the institutional changes that have occurred to the local level delivery of public utilities and personal social services in countries across Europe. Guided by a common conceptual frame and written by leading country experts, the book pursues a “developmental” approach to consider how the public/municipal sector-centred institutionalization of service delivery (climaxing in the 1970s) developed through its New Public Management-inspired and European Union market liberalization-driven restructuring of the 1980s and early 1990s. The book also discusses the most recent phase since the late 1990s, which has been marked by further marketization and privatization of service delivery on the one hand, and some return to public sector provision (“remunicipalization”) on the other. By comprising some 20 European countries, including Central East European “transformation” countries as well as the “sovereign debt”-stricken countries of Southern Europe, the chapters of this volume cover a much broader cross section of countries than other recent publications on the same subject.
