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International actors and multinational water company strategies in Europe, 1990–2003
Abstract
International actors and factors, including multinational companies, have constrained and influenced local decision-making on the structure of water systems in Europe since 1990. The EU itself has exercised a major influence through environmental directives, fiscal policies associated with economic and monetary union, and internal market policies. International financial institutions have also influenced developments, especially in central and eastern Europe, through policies and conditionalities linked to loans. The multinational water companies adopted policies of expansion in selected cities throughout Europe, achieving the privatisation of water services which had previously been directly provided by public authorities. This behaviour is subject to analysis in terms of the political economy of multinational company strategies, including the relationships between these strategies and political structures and developments. The multinational companies have been the most significant international actors, but their impact has been largely through political strategies rather than through competition with rival local companies.
... National, regional, and urban governments-informed by decentralization theory and compelled by structural adjustment compacts-complied. Pernicious outcomes of the process included government collusion with private interests and regressive policy effects (Harvey 2005;Hall and Lobina 2007). ...
... She also argues that hybrid models of joint firm, government, multilateral, and resident interaction better explain how privatization initiatives are negotiated and monitored than nested models, which focus narrowly on negotiations between local governments and private firms. Hall and Lobina (2007) provide a more detailed understanding of the political and economic actors mediating municipal privatization in LMICs. Reviewing the shortcomings of the first and second waves of privatization, they argue that negotiations between international firms, multilaterals and local governments result in irreversibly negative outcomes for residents, while municipalities effectively have no leverage to negotiate or mitigate private involvement. ...
... Contrary to many scholars' stances (for instance, see Finger and Allouche 2002;Hall and Lobina 2007), a public agency's capacity to deliver water does not necessarily determine its ability to regulate water delivery by a private provider. Service delivery and oversight functions are distinct and should be evaluated differently. ...
This article explains changes in the literature on urban water privatization in low- and middle-income countries and demonstrates the need for a revised research agenda. Since the Great Recession, privatization practice has subtly evolved, but scholarship has been slow to follow. This period of shallow growth is characterized by phenomena that have gone largely understudied: direct negotiation between private firms and cities, the greater role of domestic firms, privatization by coproduction, and a new geography. This study proposes a typology for planners to assess whether and where different forms of privatization may enhance water service in this new era.
... The most sustained expansion took place in the former communist countries of central and eastern Europe, where over 35 major cities or regions remained in the hands of the multinationals at the end of 2007. (Hall and Lobina 2007b) The French companies dominated this expansion. At the peak of water privatisation in around 2002, Suez (whose water division has also been known as Ondeo, and originally as Lyonnaise des Eaux) and Veolia (previously part of Vivendi, and originally known as Generale des Eaux) shared 60% of the 320m customers served by multinationals. ...
... At the peak of water privatisation in around 2002, Suez (whose water division has also been known as Ondeo, and originally as Lyonnaise des Eaux) and Veolia (previously part of Vivendi, and originally known as Generale des Eaux) shared 60% of the 320m customers served by multinationals. (Hall and Lobina 2007b). SAUR was also involved, especially in Africa and Europe. ...
... For the French companies, this was an extension of their intense, and sometimes corrupt, relationships with politicians which had facilitated their own survival and growth in France. (Hall and Lobina 2007b) ...
... First, grand corruption in the sector is defined as bribes, kickbacks, or any other favour received by politicians, civil servants or utility leadership to give undue support or to award contracts to selected consultancy firms, constructing firms, and additional water and other sanitation-related companies. Another element that defines high-level corruption in the water sector is that companies create grand corruption networks through political groups and alliances with local and international actors which create an oligarchy in order to control the market and block competition (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Specific actors in a grand corruption scheme often also include multinational and local construction companies who win engineering and public works projects (Hall & Lobina, 2007). ...
... Another element that defines high-level corruption in the water sector is that companies create grand corruption networks through political groups and alliances with local and international actors which create an oligarchy in order to control the market and block competition (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Specific actors in a grand corruption scheme often also include multinational and local construction companies who win engineering and public works projects (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Importantly from the perspective of corruption, the sector is extremely concentrated. ...
We employ a data-driven approach to develop a composite Water Integrity Risk Index (WIRI) made up of a host of objective proxy indicators as well as survey-based measures of corruption experience to identify and assess integrity risks in the urban water and sanitation sector in selected settlements around the world. Unlike broader-scope corruption indices, the WIRI outlined in this paper uses administrative datasets and survey data capturing information on corruptible transactions; thus, our analysis is micro-level, narrowly focuses on the water and sanitation sector, and is both transparent and replicable. The result is an actionable index which measures integrity risks over seven countries between 2012 and 2019.
Violations of integrity, fraud, and corruption result in reduced quality, affordability and availability of water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to a) proactively and systematically identify, b) precisely and comprehensively measure, and c) effectively mitigate integrity risks in urban water and sanitation (W&S) service provision.
This paper fills this gap by developing a novel measurement of integrity in the water and sanitation (W&S) sector in urban areas. It utilizes a data-driven approach to develop a composite Water Integrity Risk Index (WIRI) made up of a host of objective proxy indicators as well as survey-based measures of corruption experience to identify and assess integrity risks in the urban W&S sector in selected settlements around the world. The novelty of our approach comes from applying Big Data methods to administrative data and survey datasets in order to develop a comprehensive and actionable integrity risk indicator.
To our knowledge, there is no integrity risk index for the W&S sector to date. Existing indexes focus on two aspects. The first is country-level reports of perception of corruption provided by sources such as the Political Risk Service, International Country Risk Guide, and Transparency International’s Global Corruption Index (Drury et al., 2009; Guasch & Straub, 2009). The second focuses on state-owned enterprises’ transparency which is related to integrity but only partially overlaps with it. For example, Transparency International (TI) has developed indicators that measure the level of transparency of Public and State-Owned Enterprises based on the availability of free access to information. TI also evaluates and ranks companies based on indicators of the level of data transparency per enterprise and the legal framework to make information available (Marek Chromý, Milan Eibl, Nemanja Nenadic, Zlatko Minic, 2019). Neither of these approaches focuses on direct and measurable corruption indicators specific to the W&S sector.
By contrast, the WIRI outlined in this paper uses administrative datasets and survey data capturing information on corruptible transactions. Our analysis is micro-level and narrowly focuses on the W&S sector. In addition, this analysis rests on open data sources, making our measurements both transparent and replicable. The proposed WIRI will assist policymakers in identifying water and sanitation integrity risks which supports better policy decisions by:
-facilitating decisions about monitoring, audit, and investigations;
-informing sector-wide policy decisions for example on regulation and oversight; and
-supporting civil society and other stakeholders to hold governments accountable and advocate for better services.
The report is structured as follows; first, we outline a focused review of the literature on integrity and corruption in order to identify relevant actors, transactions, data sources, and forms of potential wrongdoings. Next, we provide a detailed description of the methodology and we describe the criteria for selecting case studies and the resulting sample and datasets. Finally, we calculate a host of elementary risk indicators and use a set of advanced data analytic methods for parametrising and validating each of them in order to define the building blocks for the composite score. We present the Water Integrity Risk Index (WIRI) and review its statistical properties, comparing urban W&S sectors across the pilot countries and settlements.
... First, grand corruption in the sector is defined as bribes, kickbacks, or any other favour received by politicians, civil servants or utility leadership to give undue support or to award contracts to selected consultancy firms, constructing firms, and additional water and other sanitation-related companies. Another element that defines grand corruption in the water sector is that companies create grand corruption networks through political groups and alliances with local and international actors which create an oligarchy in order to control the market and block competition (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Specific actors in a grand corruption scheme often include multinational and local construction companies who win engineering and public works projects (Hall & Lobina, 2007). ...
... Another element that defines grand corruption in the water sector is that companies create grand corruption networks through political groups and alliances with local and international actors which create an oligarchy in order to control the market and block competition (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Specific actors in a grand corruption scheme often include multinational and local construction companies who win engineering and public works projects (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Importantly from the perspective of corruption, the sector is extremely concentrated. ...
We employ a data-driven approach to develop a composite Water Integrity Risk Index (WIRI) made up of a host of objective proxy indicators as well as survey-based measures of corruption experience to identify and assess integrity risks in the urban water and sanitation sector in selected settlements around the world. Unlike broader-scope corruption indices, the WIRI outlined in this paper uses administrative datasets and survey data capturing information on corruptible transactions; thus, our analysis is micro-level, narrowly focuses on the water and sanitation sector, and is both transparent and replicable. The result is an actionable index which measures integrity risks over seven countries between 2012 and 2019.
... Political corruption risk (R 24 ) was the second-most significant water PPP project risk, with a score of 18.06. Water and sewerage projects are very prone to corruption risk, including bid shopping, payment games, falsified claims, overbilling and unbalanced bids (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Corruption has the consequence of eroding anticipated gains from PPPs while transferring costs to consumers in the form of increased tariffs and low-quality service. ...
... Corruption has the consequence of eroding anticipated gains from PPPs while transferring costs to consumers in the form of increased tariffs and low-quality service. The long-term nature of water contracts serves to increase the incentive for corruption (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Corruption risk in public procurement is attributable to a lack of commitment of political leadership to combat corrupt practices (Abdulai, 2009). ...
In a situation of growing water demand, inadequate public funding, poor asset condition and lack of maintenance in developing countries, public-private partnerships (PPPs) play an important role in the development of infrastructure, such as water supply and sewerage services. The purpose of this study is to develop a quantitative approach to appropriate risk allocation, with attention directed to the impact of positive and negative factors in water and sewerage projects. The paper presents a hybrid SWARA-COPRAS approach to examine risk allocation, particularly for PPP water supply and sewerage projects in the context of Malaysia. In addition to PPP infrastructure projects, the approach has the potential to be adapted to other applications. The proposed method enables decision makers to utilise qualitative linguistic terms in the allocation of risk between the public and private sector, and to select the best strategy for risk allocation in a contract. Finally, 24 significant risks were identified: six risks would preferably be allocated to the public sector, while seven risks would be assigned to the private sector, and eleven risks would preferably be shared by both parties. The finding from this study can help the government of Malaysia to determine an attractive political strategy for private investors to support a PPP water and sewerage infrastructure project.
... Water projects are very prone to corrupt practices, including falsi ed claims, bid shopping, unbalanced bids, payment games and over-billing (Hall and Lobina, 2007). Corruption risk ranked rst in Round 1 and second in Round 2 with risk signi cance values of 28.19 and 28.63, respectively. ...
... The lengthy period of water concessions/contracts serve to increase the incentive and opportunity for corruption (Hall and Lobina, 2007). Moreover, corruption ranks high because, at national level, it is prevalent among public of cials, including politicians (CDD-Ghana, 2000). ...
Purpose
– This paper aims to report on the partial findings of a research project on risk allocation in public–private partnership (PPP) water projects. It identifies risk factors encountered in PPP water infrastructure projects, evaluates their associated risk levels and presents an authoritative risk factor list to assist the sector institutions to understand the important risks associated with such projects in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
– A ranking-type Delphi survey was conducted to develop a rank-order list of critical risk factors.
Findings
– Twenty critical risk factors with high impact on water PPPs were established. The top-five risks relate to foreign exchange rate, corruption, water theft, non-payment of bills and political interference.
Originality/value
– Being the pioneering study, it holds implications for practitioners. By prioritising the risks according to their relative impacts on the success of water PPP projects, public and private participants will become more aware of and leverage efforts and scarce resources to address those significant factors with serious consequences on projects objectives. The paper adopts a research approach that can be used by future researchers in similar environments where PPP is novel and experts are hard to find.
... This concurs with Matsukawa, Sheppard, and Wright (2003) that stability of the host country's currency against foreign currencies is key to success of water supply PPPs in developing countries, where macroeconomic conditions are often volatile (Özdogan & Birgönül, 2000). 'Corruption' (probability = 5.13; severity = 5.58; impact = 5.35) ranks second, lending support to previous studies that water supply contracts are susceptible to corrupt practices, including collusion, cronyism, bid shopping, unbalanced bids, payment games, fraud, and bribery (Auriol & Blanc, 2009;Estache & Trujillo, 2009;Hall & Lobina, 2007;Kenny, 2009). The lengthy period of water concessions/contracts serve to increase the incentive and opportunity for corruption (Hall & Lobina, 2007). ...
... 'Corruption' (probability = 5.13; severity = 5.58; impact = 5.35) ranks second, lending support to previous studies that water supply contracts are susceptible to corrupt practices, including collusion, cronyism, bid shopping, unbalanced bids, payment games, fraud, and bribery (Auriol & Blanc, 2009;Estache & Trujillo, 2009;Hall & Lobina, 2007;Kenny, 2009). The lengthy period of water concessions/contracts serve to increase the incentive and opportunity for corruption (Hall & Lobina, 2007). Water theft (probability = 5.13; severity = 5.20; impact = 5.16) is widespread in the water sectors of, especially, developing countries (Ameyaw & Chan, 2013a). ...
... Whilst most scholars coincide that corporatization renders an entity more autonomous from the government, a debate continues about the extent to which corporatized entities behave as private ones. Once UK water reform had established regional water authorities during the first phase , the Conservative government 400 went on, during the second phase (from 1988 onwards), to transform these regional water authorities into private corporations, namely, water and sewerage companies (see Hall & Lobina, 2007, for details on the privatization of water in the UK). Interestingly, the existing debts of the regional water authorities, which were estimated at around £5 billion, were assumed by the UK government. ...
... Whilst most scholars coincide that corporatization renders an entity more autonomous from the government, a debate continues about the extent to which corporatized entities behave as private ones. Once UK water reform had established regional water authorities during the first phase , the Conservative government 400 went on, during the second phase (from 1988 onwards), to transform these regional water authorities into private corporations, namely, water and sewerage companies (see Hall & Lobina, 2007, for details on the privatization of water in the UK). Interestingly, the existing debts of the regional water authorities, which were estimated at around £5 billion, were assumed by the UK government. ...
... Whilst most scholars coincide that corporatization renders an entity more autonomous from the government, a debate continues about the extent to which corporatized entities behave as private ones. Once UK water reform had established regional water authorities during the first phase , the Conservative government 400 went on, during the second phase (from 1988 onwards), to transform these regional water authorities into private corporations, namely, water and sewerage companies (see Hall & Lobina, 2007, for details on the privatization of water in the UK). Interestingly, the existing debts of the regional water authorities, which were estimated at around £5 billion, were assumed by the UK government. ...
Public banks have played an important role in financing public water and sanitation services in Europe for over a century, but these activities have been largely ignored in the academic literature. This special issue is an initial corrective to this research gap, providing conceptual insights and empirical information on eight countries and regions in Europe, covering a wide range of public banks working with public water operators. This introductory article provides background rationale for the research, outlines our methodologies, frames the theoretical potentials of public banks in the water sector, highlights key findings and points to future possible research directions.
... Such a framing strategy proved successful because it was both specific enough to preserve the momentum after the successful anti-Bolkestein campaign and broad enough to unite actors with diverging ideas on the details of water sector management (Participant observation, EPSU congress, June 2019). By focusing its struggle against privatization, EPSU identified concrete targets against which discontent could be mobilized: the Commission's pro-market agenda and Veolia and Suez, which had benefited most from water services privatization in the past (Hall and Lobina, 2007). ...
Under what conditions can organized labour successfully politicize the European integration process across borders? To answer this question, we compare the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECIs) of two European trade union federations: EPSU's successful Right2Water ECI and ETF's unsuccessful Fair Transport ECI. Our comparison reveals that actor-centred factors matter – namely, unions' ability to create broad coalitions. Successful transnational labour campaigns, however, also depend on structural conditions, namely, the prevailing mode of EU integration pressures faced by unions at a given time. Whereas the Right2Water ECI pre-emptively countered commodification attempts by the European Commission in water services, the Fair Transport ECI attempted to ensure fair working conditions after most of the transport sector had been liberalized. Vertical EU integration attempts that commodify public services are thus more likely to generate successful transnational counter-movements than the horizontal integration pressures on wages and working conditions that followed earlier successful EU liberalization drives.
... Such a framing strategy proved successful because it was both specific enough to give a lasting momentum to the campaign and broad enough to unite actors that had diverging ideas on the details of water sector management. By focusing its struggle against privatization, EPSU also identified concrete negative practices against which popular discontent could be targeted: the pro-market policy ideas of the European Commission and the lobbying of big multinational firms active in water, such as Veolia and Suez, leaders of the privatization wave of water services in the 1990s and early 2000s (Hall and Lobina 2007). ...
Working Paper 20-09, ERC Project ‘European Unions’, University College Dublin. Available at: https://www.erc-europeanunions.eu/working-papers/.
... Such a framing strategy proved successful because it was both specific enough to give a lasting momentum to the campaign and broad enough to unite actors that had diverging ideas on the details of water sector management. By focusing its struggle against privatization, EPSU also identified concrete negative practices against which popular discontent could be targeted: the pro-market policy ideas of the European Commission and the lobbying of big multinational firms active in water, such as Veolia and Suez, leaders of the privatization wave of water services in the 1990s and early 2000s (Hall and Lobina 2007). ...
... er wieder von Gasunternehmen angestellt wurden (Phänomen "Revolving Doors"), dies stellt eine weitere Zugangsmöglichkeit zu institutionellem und politischem Insiderwissen dar (ebd.: 25).Zudem fanden im Vorfeld von Wasserprivatisierungen immer wieder direkte Kontakte zwischen den am Marktzugang interessierten Unternehmen und den Kommunen statt (vgl.Hall/Lobina 2007). Zugleich wurde über strategische Joint Ventures mit anderen Unternehmen strategisch der Fuß in die Tür neuer Geschäftsfelder gestellt, oder aber die Übernahme einzelner Bereiche im Rahmen von vertikaler Integration wurde als Einstieg in neue Märkte genutzt. Für Lobbying-Aktivitäten in den EU-Institutionen durch Interessengruppen lässt ...
... Consequently, the regulatory framework in England and Wales sought to prevent renationalisation by providing relative security and protection from competition to private companies. Conversely, this also prevented British companies from consolidating and expanding into expert conglomerates the way French companies did (Hall & Lobina 2007 The Innovation Department in Thames Water today is back to 'fixing' and 'bettering' ...
Infrastructures, being technological networks that form the structural and social scaffolding of cities, have been symbiotic with modern urban development. Building on their socio-technical character, this thesis seeks to understand the technological mediation of political formations and environmental knowledges that shape notions of urban sustainability. It takes as its point of departure the construction of reverse osmosis desalination plants to augment water supply in two cities across the global South and North – Chennai, India and London, UK. It uses the analytic of infrastructure to excavate the complex reasons as to why and how desalination plants came to be built in these cities. Over a period of 10 months, oral and documentary narratives were gathered from institutions, professionals and citizens involved in water supply and access in the two cities. Based on a comparative reading of these texts and ethnographic field notes, the thesis focuses on the state and engineering practices as significant determinants of urban techno-natures. It demonstrates that infrastructures provide a mode of articulating statehood through mediation between technology, nature and society. It traces how engineers and other water professionals, through their everyday work, socialise those water systems, cultivating popular environmental knowledges. Finally, through a narrative of the contestations faced by the desalination plants, the thesis shows that urban infrastructural transitions give rise to distinct political formations. As water becomes infrastructure engendering technological practices and shared knowledges over which political relations are forged, there are clear differences in how this is materialised in Chennai and London. Using Chennai as the point of reference to frame the themes and issues through which to explore the London case, the study identifies within those differences potential starting points for theory building from the global south.
... Aquests moviments han estat legitimats mitjançant diferents discursos que operen a escala global i que han impulsat la gestió privada de l'aigua, sigui per la seva suposada major eficiència, per la necessitat d'inversions en la infraestructura per expandir el servei, o fins i tot per complir legislacions ambientals més exigents (vegeu Budds i McGranahan, 2003;Gialis et al., 2007;March i Saurí, 2013a). Aquests discursos han estat promoguts de manera important des d'instàncies supranacionals, com institucions econòmiques internacionals (Banc Mundial, Fons Monetari Internacional, etc.) o regionals (bancs de desenvolupament regional) (Bakker, 2003), subscrits per institucions polítiques com la Unió Europea i amb un paper actiu dels operadors de l'aigua privats internacionals (Hall i Lobina, 2007). A Barcelona, tanmateix, la participació privada en el subministrament modern ha tingut una trajectòria molt més dilatada i extensa. ...
... In recent decades standard forms of public-private partnerships (PPPs) (concession, lease, management or service contracts) – commonly ones associated with an investment programme – have been a widespread approach to the operational improvement of water services (Budds & McGranahan, 2003; Hall & Lobina, 2007; Hukka & Vinnari, 2007; Phumpiu, 2009). However, disappointing experiences with high-risk forms of PPPs (concessions or lease contracts) in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, have led many donors to instead promote shorter-term, lower-risk forms of PPPs, most often management contracts (Arroyo, 2011). ...
The on-going debate on aid effectiveness highlights that in order for capacity development interventions to remain relevant and their results sustainable, their planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation need to be flexible and case-specific. It is not only important to account for end results, but also to adjust interventions during their implementation. Capacity development partnerships (CDP) between water operators are portrayed as a promising approach for sustained performance. However, it has been observed that these interventions require significant time to lead to the targeted water operator performance gains. Hence, managing the partnership solely through the use of key performance indicators offers the partners little insight into both the progress achieved and the effectiveness of the partnership activities in contributing to such progress. This incomplete picture is likely to limit the ability of partners to manage the project efficiently. This paper proposes a multi-path approach to monitoring and evaluating the performance of CDPs (this being understood as different from the performance of the targeted water operator) that enables well-informed management of the partnership. The designed approach is applied to compare the progress of two partnership projects, namely those of the Lilongwe and Blantyre Water Boards in Malawi, with Vitens Evides International.
... Aquests moviments han estat legitimats mitjançant diferents discursos que operen a escala global i que han impulsat la gestió privada de l'aigua, sigui per la seva suposada major eficiència, per la necessitat d'inversions en la infraestructura per expandir el servei, o fins i tot per complir legislacions ambientals més exigents (vegeu Budds i McGranahan, 2003;Gialis et al., 2007;March i Saurí, 2013a). Aquests discursos han estat promoguts de manera important des d'instàncies supranacionals, com institucions econòmiques internacionals (Banc Mundial, Fons Monetari Internacional, etc.) o regionals (bancs de desenvolupament regional) (Bakker, 2003), subscrits per institucions polítiques com la Unió Europea i amb un paper actiu dels operadors de l'aigua privats internacionals (Hall i Lobina, 2007). A Barcelona, tanmateix, la participació privada en el subministrament modern ha tingut una trajectòria molt més dilatada i extensa. ...
(paper in catalan)
This paper introduces the most recent developments in the metropolitan and regional
reconfiguration of the water cycle in Barcelona: the lease of the raw water supplier Aigües
Ter-Llobregat and the creation of the mixed-capital metropolitan firm Aigües de Barcelona,
Empresa Metropolitana de Gestió del Cicle Integral de l’Aigua, S.A. In a context of
economic crisis, both changes took place against the backdrop of austerity and privatization
policies, which have been justified by the rocketing debt of the Catalan administration.
The debt of the Catalan Water Agency can be better understood if we take into account
the rescaling of environmental policies to the European level and the inadequate water
financing model at a regional level. Beyond those reconfigurations I highlight other spheres
of the water cycle that are beginning to attract the interest of private capital, such as smart
management. Finally, we critically reflect upon the impact that those changes may have
on the citizens as well as on the environment.
... In the 1920s the company was overtaken by Spanish bankers, and with the exception of the brief collectivization during the Spanish civil war (Gorostiza et al., 2013;March, 2013), it remained in the hands of banking groups throughout late 20th century. Water supply in Barcelona, as well as that of many French cities, was never municipalized as happened elsewhere in Europe or the United States (Hall and Lobina, 2007;Melosi, 2011;Morgan, 2004). Given the natural monopoly of water supply this permitted a sustained period of capital accumulation for large private firms during the 20th century. ...
Since the turn of the century the global water industry has seen an influx of new financial actors, investment vehicles and markets along with a discernible change in the corporate strategies of big water operators. In this paper we argue that ‘financialisation’ is materially shaping ownership, control and geographical organisation in the global water industry. To make this case the paper investigates the historical development, geographical organisation and accumulation strategies of Aguas de Barcelona (AGBAR). By tracing out the development of AGBAR’s operations in Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom the paper provides a window onto the complex links between the industrial activity of providing water, both in developing and developed markets, and the chain of actors, techniques and activities that have deepened the industry’s links with the circulation of finance capital. The paper argues that financialisation has been of an uneven and spatially variegated intensity, taking hold where the network of services and infrastructures involved in its delivery can be most profitably embroiled within new investment vehicles. This in turn has reacted back upon the geographical and strategic accumulation strategies of traditional water companies that are shifting from ownership operation to management contracts and research-based investment.
... Even in well maintained systems, municipalities have to face investments required by tougher quality standards and new legislative frameworks. According to Hall and Lobina (2007) the urban wastewater directive of 1991 (91/271/EEC) provides one illustration of a regulation having a major impact by significantly increasing the costs of water services. In order to implement the standards required and to avoid increased taxes or responsibilities for higher prices of water, municipalities have a strong incentive to delegate the provision of water services to private partners, or to corporatize public entities in the hope of realizing efficiency gains 16 . ...
Our chapter is organized as follows. Section I comes back to the characteristics of the water sector. It describes some key features that may explain the slow pace of reform and that may also help better understanding characteristics and limits of that process. Then, a historical and global overview of the liberalization movement and the actual state of the water sector is presented. Section II examines more specifically the main drivers towards and factors of resistance to the liberalization process in the water sector. Section III looks at how these factors operate in three models of liberalization, illustrated with as many stylized examples from European countries . Section IV takes stock of this examination to point out challenges of liberalization in the water sector, which have to do with guaranteeing integrity and coherence of water systems.
... The onset of neo-liberalism in the 1980s in the water services sector initially took the form of increased private sector involvement. In 1989, the start of the privatization of water services in England and Whales preceded the unofficial start of the "water privatization decade'' (Hall and Lobina, 2007). The Galli Law, issued in Italy in 1994, was designed to create an enabling environment for private sector participation in water service delivery. ...
The traditional paradigm promoting government responsibility for providing water services has, in practice, translated into a strongly supply-driven approach. With the onset of neo-liberalism and increasing prominence of social movements, this supply-driven approach is argued to be outdated and in need of replacement by a more demand-driven approach. Whilst sharing a strong emphasis on individualism, these two ideological approaches have contrasting views on this notion. In the neoliberal perspective individualism is linked to the role of the consumer as purchaser of services. For the social movements it refers to the individual rights of the citizen. In both approaches, however, the role of the consumer is envisaged to change from a passive recipient to an active agent in the service provision process. In this article, we recognize the significant impact of both neo-liberalism and social movements on the provision of public services as well as question the degree to which it really does lead to a modified role for the consumer. We argue that the envisioned role of the consumer as an active agent wielding their power to influence the provision of services is based more on rhetoric than on empirical evidence.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) emerged as the world’s largest multilateral public development bank from the 1990s. We explore the logic of EIB lending to the water sector in general, and to public water in particular. Water lending from the EIB’s establishment until 1990 reflected its core mandates, then, from 1991 to 2021, slippage occurred, as a process of levelling up meant the EIB distributed water lending more evenly among member countries. We find EIB water lending went to both public and private water, illustrating this using the case of the UK, the leading recipient of lending throughout the period.
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On the whole, the use of lead pipes is an example of path dependence that the old cities of developed and developing societies still seem to have a hard time eliminating.
Our examples of the various theories on history of technology and of water and sanitation reveal some more general governance principles that we find valid and important:
(i) plurality: we have various options, only seldom just one
(ii) diversity: we have several institutional options concerning various political, economic, social, technological, ecological and legislative dimensions
(iii) locality: particularly in water supply and sanitation, the local actors and conditions are most important for sustainable systems and stakeholders
(iv) globality: there is clear need for more general global principles that we can agree on and implement
(v) politicality: many of the decisions related to water policy and management are political by nature, which should not be forgotten when exploring history of technology and its development
(vi) environmentality: the environment is a key requirement for sustainability, but we must remember that it is not our property, but on loan from future generations
(vii) humanity: technology as shown by the examples is largely human by nature.
(viii) visionarity: taking history into account, we should not base our decisions on short-sighted thinking but consider the longer term.
The late 20th century witnessed the rise of public policy models based on market solutions which stimulated privatization process and public-private partnerships in basic sanitation services. The aim of this work is to evaluate the commercial and operational strategies adopted by the Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo – Sabesp ( the sanitation company of São Paulo State) in view of the current changes of global sanitation industry. The methodology sought to identify convergences and divergences between the interests of investors and users, based on the analysis of the economic and operational information available in the shareholders’ reports, highlighting the following aspects: human resources, investments, tariffs, operational efficiency and profitability. The investigation concluded that Sabesp has followed strategies similar to those observed in companies operating in the international market, although it has diverged in some aspects, possibly due to the characteristics of the sanitation infrastructure in São Paulo. Finally, in opposition to the harmony advocated in the texts that defend the market solutions, this research pointed out in the design of the strategies adopted by Sabesp the conflicts of interest between investors and users.
If chemical fertilizers have been extensively studied, there is a dearth of empirical knowledge on markets for waste and waste-derived fertilizers used in agriculture. This paper explores the state of the art on these markets, based on a multi-disciplinary literature review (economics, law, sociology). We first examine the particularity of waste compared to products such as chemical fertilizers in both law and economics, and point out the need to develop the concept of waste from a property rights perspective. On the supply side, we note a lack of aggregate data on the quantities of different materials used in agriculture at European level and the need to benefit from longer time series for US data on organic waste materials used in agriculture. We then study the determinants of demand for waste and waste-derived fertilizers in agriculture. We specify the need to develop research on three quality features of waste: variability, interactivity and uncertainty. The case study on sewage sludge spreading in France and in Switzerland allows us to pinpoint the role of actors in the development or disappearance of these markets.
Water Services Management and Governance focuses on water services (water supply, wastewater services) and deals with connections between water resources and services and water resources. It covers water supply mainly in urban communities, sanitation and pollution control and water resources and their linkages to water services.
This book is divided in to four key sections relating to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies. The chapters analyse the complexity of the water services sector based on a historical analysis of developments within the sector. The underlying conviction is that only by understanding past trends, processes and developments can the current situation in the water services be understood. Only through this understanding can policies for sustainable water services in the future be formulated. The four key sections relate to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies.
Water Services Management and Governance raises awareness that an understanding of the past is a necessity to explore potential, probable and preferable futures. It is an essential basis for water sector reforms in any country, region or community. The book is written for experts in water utilities, ministries, municipalities, NGOs, donor agencies, private companies and regulators; as well as students and researchers in water policy and governance, and the management of water resources, services and infrastructure.
EDITORS
Dr. Petri S. Juuti is a historian, and Adjunct Professor in the universities of Tampere, Oulu and Turku.
Tapio S. Katko, Civil engineer, Adjunct Professor, UNESCO Chairholder in Sustainable Water Services at Tampere University of Technology, Finland.
Klaas Schwartz, Senior Lecturer, Urban Water Governance in the Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Riikka P. Rajala, Environmental Engineer, Post-Doctoral researcher in University of Tampere, Finland.
REVIEWS
"This welcome addition to the literature on water governance is a timely, thorough, and practical set of assessments of management challenges facing water service providers around the world. The diverse set of case studies, many of which focus on reforms to water supply provision, will be of interest to students and practitioners alike."
KAREN BAKKER, Professor/Canada Research Chair, Director of the Program on Water Governance, The University of British Columbia
"The anthology makes a very useful contribution to speed up the slow political awakening of reaching universal water services coverage: The lack of water services is in most cases not due to shortages of water, money and technologies, it is rather about poor governance. It provides many different insights from various cultural and political contexts and outlines and explains current changes in the governance architectures of water supply and sanitation."
DR. HAKAN TROPP, Director, Water Governance Facility, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Table of contents
Introduction; Analytical framework for water services and governance; Water Services Evolution and Technology Development Theories in Finland, 1870-2010; Integration of Water and Wastewater Utilities: A Case from Finland; Safety of lead water pipes: History and Present; . Fort C. Water re-cycling and sustainability: an historian examines South Australian futures; Tempelhoff J. Rethinking mining in the face of changing water demand needs in South Africa; Reflections on Colorado's Water Development and the Pursuit of Sustainable Growth in the Arid West; The governance of large hydraulic infrastructure in Spain. A historical approach; Centralisation of waterworks in the Netherlands; Pietilä P. Various roles of municipalities and WSS in Europe; The birth, growth and decline of multinational water companies; Issues of Governance and Citizenship in Water Services: a reflection on Latin American experiences; Rusca M. &Schwartz K. Changes in Partnerships on WSS services from 1970s to 2010; Water supply and sanitation history in Kenya and its relevance for the current water sector reforms; The Curse of Novelty: how can water sector donors learn from experience?; Reforming water services in Helsinki metropolitan area
This book has by now examined in Chap. 2 the current status of the right(s) to water in the different legal orders and identified its still not clearly defined status, in particularly in international treaty and customary law. Chap. 3 has raised conceptual objections against the idea of such a human right, replying and ultimately overruling all of these objections. It has also identified the most coherent and effective approach to the right to water, as a right of distinctly different layers and as a compound of national and international recognitions, which I have called the right(s) to water.
Politicians and diplomats have for many years proclaimed a human right to water as a solution to the global water crisis, most recently in the 2010 UN General Assembly Resolution "The human right to water and sanitation". To what extent, however, can a right to water legally and philosophically exist and what difference to international law and politics can it make? This question lies at the heart of this book. The book's answer is to argue that a right to water exists under international law but in a more differentiated and multi-level manner than previously recognised. Rather than existing as a singular and comprehensive right, the right to water should be understood as a composite right of different layers, both deriving from separate rights to health, life and an adequate standard of living, and supported by an array of regional and national rights. The author also examines the right at a conceptual level. After disproving some of the theoretical objections to the category of socio-economic rights generally and the concept of a right to water more specifically, the manuscript develops an innovative approach towards the interplay of different rights to water among different legal orders. The book argues for an approach to human rights - including the right to water - as international minimum standards, using the right to water as a model case to demonstrate how multilevel human rights protection can function effectively. The book also addresses a crucial last question: how does one make an international right to water meaningful in practice? The manuscript identifies three crucial criteria in order to strengthen such a composite derived right in practice: independent monitoring; enforcement towards the private sector; and international realization. The author examines to what extent these criteria are currently adhered to, and suggests practical ways of how they could be better met in the future.? © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014. All rights are reserved.
This paper assesses the deregulation and liberalization movement of the water sector in the European Union. It presents three different models as illustrated by three different countries: full privatization in England & Wales, PPPs in France, and public corporatization in Germany. For each of these distinct reform models the drivers and impediments are analyzed.
In the context of the European debt crisis, neoliberal reforms question the legitimacy of the state in the direct provision of basic services. Water governance mirrors such issues. In Metropolitan Barcelona (northeast Spain) the water cycle is being redrawn with the leasing to private hands of the regional public bulk water supplier. The unbearable debt accumulated by the Catalan Water Agency is used as the discursive justification of the 'inevitability' of granting to private capital the control over the water cycle. We attempt to demonstrate that this debt is the result of large investments, required by European directives (Wastewater Directive, Drinking Water Directive, and European Water Framework Directive) to improve the quality of rivers and water bodies. These directives, combined with the restrictions imposed on budget deficits by the European Union and the inadequate regional financing model of water have put the Catalan Water Agency against the wall. The financial crisis, wreaking havoc in Spain and Catalonia, has finally exacerbated the tensions around the water cycle as the Catalan administration has observed how international markets turned off the credit tap. In the paper we wish to elucidate pervasive processes of private participation in Metropolitan Barcelona and analyze the intricate relationship between the emergence and deepening of the recent crisis, scalar processes of ecological modernization, and the production of neoliberal natures.
Urban water provision, traditionally a local activity, has since the 1990s been drawn into the orbit of global capital accumulation. The largest private water companies that are internationally active are several vertically integrated French and the UK firms. This article discusses reasons for this dominance and contrasts the situation with Australia where the domestic water services industry has only achieved a minor international presence. Some domestic firms were earmarked in the 1990s as representatives of a potentially prosperous exporting environmental technology industry. However, these global aspirations have largely failed, due to destructive inter-firm rivalry and uncoordinated industry assistance programmes.
Having access to a safe water supply is important to improve a person's quality of life. We examine the relationship between the influence of water availability on monthly household expenditures (the dependent variable) and independent variables such as household characteristics, tank size, usage instructions and post-construction guidance, including the management of water-related health risks. The sample consisted of 301 respondents who harvest rainwater in Uganda. A multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that post-construction guidance and tank size were significant variables. This study suggests the need for a follow-up to improve health after the installation of water supply equipment, i.e., to provide information about water risks, foster reading norms and facilitate the availability and affordability of information sources, e.g., subsidised newspapers and information support devices (computers). Additionally, this study shows the possibility of increased savings due to reduced expenditures on water from vendors and the management of water-related health risks caused by a water shortage, e.g., dehydration. Overall, the study reveals two possible ways to advance policy and health in developing countries: (1) ensuring sufficient post-construction guidance for all water resources; and (2) ensuring a sustainable supply of adequate safe water in households.
The last few years have witnessed significant attempts by a number of municipalities across the globe to reverse private sector involvement in water services delivery to citizens, with examples across North America, Europe, as well as in some developing countries. What makes this reversal of private sector participation in water services delivery baffle many is that, in the not too distance past, private sector involvement in water delivery was touted as a better service delivery option for municipalities. It was seen as a panacea for the perceived inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and unaccountable nature of the public sector. Why are municipalities de-privatizing their water services delivery? Did the promises of privatization fail? This article argues that the privatization of water services delivery was based on the (false) premise of the market being more efficient and effective, which would enable governments to save costs and lead to the emergence of a competitive environment in a monopolistic industry. It seems, therefore, that the private sector failed in no uncertain terms with respect to its promises to deliver. This argument will be supported using two cases drawn from Canada and the United States.
Th e overall development of Finnish water supply and sewerage services can be divided
into the following key periods:
(i) Early discussions and proposals for private concessions until 1880;
(ii) Establishment of the fi rst water supply and sewerage systems in the biggest cities,
1880 to 1917, as municipal departments and works;
(iii) Expansion of the systems and establishment of new ones, 1920 to 1940;
(iv) Reconstruction followed by major expansion of systems including stronger water
pollution control measures, 1950 to 1980;
(v) Increasing autonomy, inter-municipal cooperation and outsourcing of non-core
operations, 1980–2000.
In Finland, fi re insurance companies have contributed signifi cantly also towards the
development of water services. Water has been needed for extinguishing fi res as well
as for domestic use which has motivated villages, municipalities, cities and fi re insurance
companies. At fi rst, Finnish houses were insured, if at all, with the General Fire
Insurance Fund in Stockholm. Th e “semi-offi cial” Finnish Fire Insurance Bureau was
established in 1809 with state support. Th e issue of fi re insurance became increasingly
topical immediately following the Great Fire of Turku in 1827.
Th e General Fire Assistance Company of the Grand Duchy of Finland was established
in 1832. (Nikula 1972, Nuoreva 1980). Later on cities received funding from this
company on good terms for establishing water works. Th e company operated under
the Superintendent’s Offi ce with its domicile in Helsinki. It was a government body,
not owned by cities. In 1858 the company was renamed the General Fire Assurance
Company of Finnish Cities.
Th e Finnish Rural Fire Assurance Company was founded in 1857, while in 1871 the
Finnish Cities’ Fire Assurance Company was set up to insure chattels. In 1873 fi re
services became a municipal responsibility for good. In 1882 the Fennia Fire Insurance
Company opened up for business and was the fi rst in Finland to write industrial fi re
insurance. Th e above companies supported the acquisition of fi re-fi ghting water and
equipment in diff erent ways.
Th e quite advantageous loan from the fi re insurance company considering the prevailing
interest rates (average about 6 per cent in the second half of the 19th century)
played as large a role in fi nancing the establishment of city water works as other forms
of fi nancing. Especially the taxes from spirits distilleries were of signifi cance. In each
locality a company was given the exclusive right to distill spirits against the payment
of a liquor tax.
Normally a small amount of capital was raised over time for the establishment of a
water works: about 10 per cent of the total required — through taxes and quite substantial
donations and willed sums. Loans were also taken from local banks where
necessary. A loan from the fire insurance company was nevertheless generally the
largest single source of financing, and the interest charged was clearly lower than with
other creditors.
Ian Bache and Matthew Flinders provide an overview of the development and main issues in the study of multi-level governance, before identifying the main themes of the book. These are concerned with how multi-level governance should be defined and how the concept is understood and utilized in different academic fields; how structures and processes of multi-level governance differ across policy sectors and how these differences might be explained; the implications of multi-level governance for the power, position, and role of the nation state; the implications of multi-level governance for democratic accountability; and the limitations of the multi-level governance model.
Explores different sites and practices of governance, from the remaking of Europe to the increasing focus on 'personhood' amd 'community' in governing social life. Contributors explore how 'the social' is constituted through governance practices, including: - the remaking of the territories and spaces of governance - the constitution of peoples and personhood through governing practices - the implications for how citizens engage with political power and the selves they bring to that engagement. Includes 4 chapters by Newman, one of which offers an anlaysis of the regendering of governance
Remaking governance focuses on the dynamics of change as new strategies - active citizenship, public participation, partnership working, consumerism - encounter existing institutions. It explores different sites and practices of governing, from the remaking of Europe to the increasing focus on ‘community’ and ‘personhood’ in governing social life. The authors critically engage with existing theory across political science, social policy, sociology and public administration and management to explore how ‘the social’ is constituted through governance practices. This includes the ways in which the spaces and territories of governing are remade and the peoples constituted; how the public domain is re-imagined and new forms of state-citizen relationships fostered and how the remaking of governance shapes our understanding of politics, changing the ways in which citizens engage with political power and the selves they bring to that engagement. Remaking governance is essential reading for academics and students across a range of social science disciplines, and of interest to those engaged in policy evaluation and reform.
With the publication of his best-selling books "Competitive Strategy (1980) and "Competitive Advantage (1985), Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business School established himself as the world's leading authority on competitive advantage. Now, at a time when economic performance rather than military might will be the index of national strength, Porter builds on the seminal ideas of his earlier works to explore what makes a nation's firms and industries competitive in global markets and propels a whole nation's economy. In so doing, he presents a brilliant new paradigm which, in addition to its practical applications, may well supplant the 200-year-old concept of "comparative advantage" in economic analysis of international competitiveness. To write this important new work, Porter and his associates conducted in-country research in ten leading nations, closely studying the patterns of industry success as well as the company strategies and national policies that achieved it. The nations are Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The three leading industrial powers are included, as well as other nations intentionally varied in size, government policy toward industry, social philosophy, and geography. Porter's research identifies the fundamental determinants of national competitive advantage in an industry, and how they work together as a system. He explains the important phenomenon of "clustering," in which related groups of successful firms and industries emerge in one nation to gain leading positions in the world market. Among the over 100 industries examined are the German chemical and printing industries, Swisstextile equipment and pharmaceuticals, Swedish mining equipment and truck manufacturing, Italian fabric and home appliances, and American computer software and movies. Building on his theory of national advantage in industries and clusters, Porter identifies the stages of competitive development through which entire national economies advance and decline. Porter's finding are rich in implications for both firms and governments. He describes how a company can tap and extend its nation's advantages in international competition. He provides a blueprint for government policy to enhance national competitive advantage and also outlines the agendas in the years ahead for the nations studied. This is a work which will become the standard for all further discussions of global competition and the sources of the new wealth of nations.
This book is the eagerly awaited successor to Robert Gilpin's 1987 The Political Economy of International Relations, the classic statement of the field of international political economy that continues to command the attention of students, researchers, and policymakers. The world economy and political system have changed dramatically since the 1987 book was published. The end of the Cold War has unleashed new economic and political forces, and new regionalisms have emerged. Computing power is increasingly an impetus to the world economy, and technological developments have changed and are changing almost every aspect of contemporary economic affairs. Gilpin's Global Political Economy considers each of these developments. Reflecting a lifetime of scholarship, it offers a masterful survey of the approaches that have been used to understand international economic relations and the problems faced in the new economy. Gilpin focuses on the powerful economic, political, and technological forces that have transformed the world. He gives particular attention to economic globalization, its real and alleged implications for economic affairs, and the degree to which its nature, extent, and significance have been exaggerated and misunderstood. Moreover, he demonstrates that national policies and domestic economies remain the most critical determinants of economic affairs. The book also stresses the importance of economic regionalism, multinational corporations, and financial upheavals. Gilpin integrates economic and political analysis in his discussion of "global political economy." He employs the conventional theory of international trade, insights from the theory of industrial organization, and endogenous growth theory. In addition, ideas from political science, history, and other disciplines are employed to enrich understanding of the new international economic order. This wide-ranging book is destined to become a landmark in the field.
Based on empirical evidence, this paper looks at experience with privatized water supply and sanitation concessions and operating contracts in transition and developing countries, with particular reference to Latin America. The paper is an attempt to address the complexity of issues affecting private sector participation in the water sector from a dynamic point of view, taking into account how the interests, objectives and resources of private sector operators continuously shape their relationships with local stakeholders, citizens and local governments alike, and how the interaction between multinational companies and other actors affect the developmental impact of private sector participation. It is argued that the introduction of commercial considerations into the system and the profit-seeking behaviour of private water operators are major determinants of the economic, social, political and environmental results of public–private partnerships (PPPs). Such factors may explain the discrepancy between the theory pointing at private sector participation as the way forward and the results of private sector participation in practice.
Recent initiatives from the OECD, the World Bank, and others on the subject of corruption have received widespread attention. However, the author argues that the incidence of corruption is closely connected with contracting-out, concessions, and privatisation, where multinationals based in OECD countries stand to gain profitable business. The encouragement of privatisation by the World Bank, and the economic benefit to OECD multinationals from this business, mean that action against corruption needs to involve effective sanctions by developing countries against multinationals which engage in corrupt practices; greater political transparency to remove the secrecy under which corruption flourishes; and resistance to the uncritical extension of privatisation. This article looks at empirical evidence on this subject.
This paper addresses the potential of public water operations in achieving developmental goals such as the Millennium Development Goals, and argues that the public sector has a comparative advantage in developing water services. The global importance of the public sector in urban water supply is examined through a review of current practice in the world's largest cities, including operational presence and distribution and ongoing trends. Empirical evidence shows that, in transition and developing countries, public operators are capable of undergoing successful reform. One explanatory factor is proposed to be the creation through the public sphere of highly interconnected networks among stakeholders. Such accountability networks act as vehicles for the generation and distribution of public knowledge among stakeholders, which in turn inform rational decision making on the reform and management of operations.
Looks partially toward a conceptual clarification of globalization interrelated to corporate power. The global economy has experienced structural transformation over time. An integrated network of world trade has evolved in the context of two separate stages. Stage one appeared during the period of the 1870s. The second stage appeared during the post Second World War era. To distinguish this period from stage one, the process of structural transformation now taking place is conceptualized and demarcated as corporate globalization. Given the growing increase in size, power and dominance of the MNCs, the locus of sovereignty is currently being questioned. An issue currently being raised relates to whether or not nation states or MNCs will be in control of the globalization process. Interjects and analyses the theory and policy of free trade, all of which is contained in a paradigm of culture evolution fed by the dynamics of technological change and economic development.
Although the goal of market integration has not actually been challenged in recent years, it has nevertheless increasingly come to be considered incomplete and in need of complementary goals which serve the general interest by promoting social cohesion and equality. The debate has been conducted in various areas, such as in the fight against unemployment and poverty and in the provision of public utilities. In the latter case, regarding the provision of energy, water, communication and transport, the debate was sparked by the privatization of public monopolies and their infrastructure networks, and the deregulation of service provision. The network industries, which had traditionally been shielded from competition and were run within national boundaries, were dramatically transformed. This change, which in some countries resulted from European legislation, was meant to induce more producer competition, improved productivity, more consumer choice in the supply of network services, and lower prices. However, it has triggered concerns over the maintenance of general-interest goals in service provision, i.e. over safeguarding the accessibility, equality, continuity, security and affordability of these services after liberalization. There is a general political consensus that communicating by voice telephony, enjoying a certain degree of mobility, and using energy are basic needs which should be guaranteed and that firms operating in network industries should thus be subject to 'public-service' objectives. This contribution raises the questions: why, and to what extent, does a conflict exist between economic liberalization and general-interest goals in the first place? I then turn to the role of European policy-making, which aims at striking a balance between the poles of market integration and competition, on the one hand, and the provision of public services, on the other. What are the existing European policies and how do they fare when measured against these two goals? I then focus on the central question of the analysis: how can the pro-general-interest decisions at the cross-sectoral and sectoral level (in energy, telecommunications and rail) be accounted for in terms of the interaction of the formal political and legal actors involved in shaping the outcomes at the European level?
The director of the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Dehli, after surveying a wide range of forecasts, stresses the long-run energy needs of developing countries, the possibilities of global scarcity, and the connection of these issues with the stability of the world economic system. He sees an important future for OPEC.
Data from the 1999 Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey is used to examine state capture and influence in transition economies. We find that a capture economy has emerged in many transition countries, where rent-generating advantages are sold by public officials and politicians to private firms. While influence is a legacy of the past inherited by large, incumbent firms with existing ties to the state, state capture is a strategic choice made primarily by large de novo firms competing against influential incumbents. Captor firms, in high-capture economies, enjoy private advantages in terms of more protection of their own property rights and superior firm performance. Despite the private gains to captor firms, state capture is associated at the aggregate level with social costs in the form of weaker economy-wide firm performance. Journal of Comparative Economics31 (4) (2003) 751–773.
Incl. bibliographical notes and references, index, biographical note on the author
Contents summary results on conditionality and economic policy reforms in twenty-one developing countries, 1980-1994. Incl. bibliographical notes and references, index, list of abbreviations
This volume of original essays brings the practical world of trade policy and of government and business strategy together with the world of academic trade theory. It focuses in particular on the impact of changes in the international trade environment and on how new developments and theory can guide our trade policy.
This paper first sets out the main features of the eclectic theory of international production and then seeks to evaluate its significance of ownership- and location- specific variables in explaining the industrial pattern and geographical distribution of the sales of U.S. affiliates in fourteen manufacturing industries in seven countries in 1970.© 1980 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1980) 11, 9–31
The impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on public services is subject to a vivid political debate. From a legal perspective, an important issue is the sectoral scope of the GATS and the exact meaning of the term 'services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority' in Article I:3(b) GATS. This paper shows that this provision is likely to be interpreted narrowly and that most public services will fall within the sectoral scope of GATS. The reason for this finding lies in the definition of governmental services, which emphasizes the non-commercial basis and non-competitive supply of a service. This definition distinguishes GATS law from the similar provision in Article 45 EC. WTO Members wishing to reduce the impact of GATS on public services can do so through their schedules of specific commitments or seek an interpretation of the GATS, which would give them more regulatory flexibility. Copyright Oxford University Press 2003, Oxford University Press.
Some publicly-owned enterprises (POEs) in water services have recently developed behaviour similar to private companies, tendering for and managing concessions and other contracts, both in their countries and abroad. The article first discusses the reasons for public sector provision of water services, and the different public and private mechanisms of production. It then examines the development of Canal de Isabel II, the public sector water company of Madrid, as a vehicle for public service responsibilities, and then its more recent policies of commercial diversification and overseas expansion, and discusses some contradictions between this commercial activity and the original terms of the company's public service remit. In conclusion, it seeks to explain this behaviour and its relation to transparency and democratic control, especially of risk.
Stability Pact More than a minor nuisance?
The Stability and Growth Pact will lead member countries to aim for cyclically balanced budgets. Until this steady state is reached, Europe will continue its efforts at de.cit cutting. While so doing, politicians are less likely to undertake the dif.cult labour market reforms that are really needed. Is further .scal retrenchment wise? The paper reviews the reasons that have been advanced in favour of a Stability Pact and .nds them wanting. The most serious justi.cations, such as the systemic risk of bank crisis following a government.s failure to service its debt, can be better dealt with in other ways: for example, by prudential limits on banks. exposure to public debts. Moreover, our analysis reveals that the macroeconomic costs of the Stability Pact, while sizeable, are not as dangerous as often believed. The costs will be barely visible once the steady state is reached. The true macroeconomic costs are front loaded; they concern the next few years, after a decade already dominated by convergence efforts.
— Barry Eichengreen and Charles Wyplosz
We construct a set of indicators to measure the policy-making role of the European Union (European Council, Parliament, Commission, Court of Justice, etc.), in a selected number of policy domains. Our goal is to examine the division of prerogatives between European institutions and national ones, in light of the implications of normative models and in relation to the preferences of European citizens. Our data confirm that the extent and the intensity of policy-making by the EU have increased sharply over the last 30 years. Such increase has taken place at different speeds, and to different degrees, across policy domains. In recent times the areas that have expanded most are the most remote from the EEC's original mission of establishing a free market zone with common external trade policy. We conjecture that the resulting allocation may be partly inconsistent with normative criteria concerning the assignment of policies at different government levels, as laid out in the theoretical literature.
To what extent must nations cede control over their economic and social policies if global efficiency is to be achieved in an interdependent world? This question is at the center of the debate over the future role of GATT (and its successor, the WTO) in the realm of labor and environmental standards. Current GATT rules reflect the primacy of market access concerns in GATT practice, and this orientation is seen increasingly as unfriendly to labor and environmental causes. Fundamental changes to GATT are being considered as a result, changes that would expand the scope of GATT negotiations to include labor and environmental policies, and would lead to a significant loss of sovereignty for national governments. In this paper we establish that there is no need for the WTO to expand the scope of its negotiations in this way. We show instead that the market access focus of current GATT rules is well-equipped to handle the problems associated with choices over labor and environmental standards, and that with relatively modest changes that grant governments more sovereignty, not less, these rules can in principle deliver globally efficient outcomes.
Strategic Trade Policy and the New International Eco-nomics Watertime case study
- P R Krugman
- D Hall
- K Eitner
Krugman, P.R., 1987. Strategic Trade Policy and the New International Eco-nomics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 76 D. Hall, E. Lobina / Utilities Policy 15 (2007) 64e77 rLanz, K., Eitner, K., 2005. Watertime case study: Berlin, Germany. http:// www.watertime.net/docs/WP2/D12_Berlin.doc
Remaking Governance: Peoples, Politics and the Public Sphere Instrument of Appointment by the Secretary of State for the Environment of Anglian Water Services Limited as a Water and Sewerage Undertaker under the Water Act
- J Newman
Newman, J., 2005. Remaking Governance: Peoples, Politics and the Public Sphere. The Policy Press, Bristol. OFWAT, 2007. Instrument of Appointment by the Secretary of State for the Environment of Anglian Water Services Limited as a Water and Sewerage Undertaker under the Water Act 1989. http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/aptrix/ ofwat/publish.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/lic_anglian.pdf/$FILE/lic_anglian. pdf (accessed 1 February 2007).
Legal Corruption. Second Draft
- D Kaufmann
- P Vicente
Kaufmann, D., Vicente, P., 2005. Legal Corruption. Second Draft, October,
2005. World Bank Institute. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWBI
GOVANTCOR/Resources/Legal_Corruption.pdf (accessed 17 January
2007).
Water privatisation and restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe and NIS countries
- D Hall
- E Lobina
- R De La Motte
Hall, D., Lobina, E., De La Motte, R., 2003. Water privatisation and restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe and NIS countries, 2002. PSIRU.
http://www.psiru.org/reports/2003-03-W-CEENIS.doc.
The stability pact: more than a minor nuisance? Economic Policy 13
- B Eichengreen
- C Wyplosz
- C Bean
- S Gerlach
Eichengreen, B., Wyplosz, C., Bean, C., Gerlach, S., 1998. The stability pact:
more than a minor nuisance? Economic Policy 13, 65e113.
Global Political Economy EU Water Policy and Paying for it. European Invest-ment Bank
- R Gilpin
- Nj Goldsmith
Gilpin, R., 2001. Global Political Economy. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Goldsmith, H., 2002. EU Water Policy and Paying for it. European Invest-ment Bank. http://www.wb.home.by/wbi/sdwatermedianetwork/pdfs/golds mith2.pdf.
Strategic Trade Policy and the New International Eco-nomics Watertime case study Problems with private water concessions: a review of experience
- P R Krugman
- Ma Lanz
- K Eitner
Krugman, P.R., 1987. Strategic Trade Policy and the New International Eco-nomics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Lanz, K., Eitner, K., 2005. Watertime case study: Berlin, Germany. http:// www.watertime.net/docs/WP2/D12_Berlin.doc. Lobina, E., Hall, D., 2003. Problems with private water concessions: a review of experience. PSIRU 2003. http://www.psiru.org/reports/2003-06-W-over.doc.
Can business really do business with government?
- S Goldsmith
Goldsmith, S., 1997. Can business really do business with government?
Harvard Business Review 1 May.
Trends in the water industry in the EU
- D Hall
- E Lobina
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