Overview

At the end of the 1970s, the prospect of privatising public enterprises which operated in sectors such as water, telecommunications, railways or air transportation seemed a thoroughly unappealing one in political terms. Not even the future privatisation ""champion"", the British Conservative Party, envisaged this kind of reform when it came to power in 1979. Only two decades later, however, privatisation had become a global fashion, with the EU region at the forefront of these developments. What are the factors that explain this shift? This text rejects 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?

Full Product Details

Author:   Judith Clifton ,  Francisco Comín ,  Daniel Díaz Fuentes
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition:   2003 ed.
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.990kg
ISBN:  

9781402074813

ISBN 10:   1402074816
Pages:   174
Publication Date:   31 July 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements. Introduction. One: Deconstructing Public Enterprise. 1. Unravelling Discourses. 2. The Emergence of Public Enterprises in Historical Context. 3. The Raison d'être of Public Enterprises. 4. Conclusions. Two: The End of Public Enterprises in Europe? 1. Critiques of Public Enterprises and Privatisation. 2. The Experiences of Privatisation in the EU. Three: European Integration, Market Liberalisation and Privatisation. 1. The Evolution of the Public Enterprise Sector in the UK. 2. The Myth of the `British Paradigm'. 3. Conclusions. Four: Towards a Logic of Privatisation. 1. The Evolution of the Public Enterprise Sector in the EU. 2. Competition, Markets and Sectors. 3. Public Services: The General Economic Interest as a Communitarian Process. 4. Services of General Interest at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century. Conclusions. References. Index.

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