The Privatisation and Nationalisation of European Roads


Book Description

Presenting an evaluation of the critical elements of the contractual and regulatory design of the public-private collaboration that determines the likelihood of success and failure, this unique book will be of special interest to academics, graduate st







Handbook on Public Private Partnerships in Transportation, Vol II


Book Description

​Second in a two-volume set, this book discusses the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in global transportation infrastructure, specifically focusing on roads, bridges, and parking. To provide vital services in an era of shrinking government budgets, public-private partnerships have become an increasingly important part of travel infrastructure worldwide. This book describes and analyses the structure of various models of PPPs in several countries, evaluating their effectiveness, and drawing policy implications for future use. The chapters were written by leading international researchers and practitioners in the transportation field where each chapter is a case study on the adoption, implementation, and outcome of transportation services. Taken together, these diverse case studies provide an integrated framework for evaluating, using PPPs, and suggesting policy implications to both the public and the private sectors in transportation. Providing rigorous empirical analysis of PPPs in transportation, this volume will be of interest to researchers in public administration, political science, public choice, and economics as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in establishing and monitoring PPPs in transportation.




Regulating Public Services


Book Description

Regulation is one of the tools used by governments to control monopolistic behaviour in the provision of public services such as electricity, transport or water. Technological and financial innovations have changed these public services markets since the 1990s, bringing new regulatory challenges, including technological and financial ones. This book demonstrates that basic regulatory theory and tools can address these new challenges, in addition to more traditional regulatory issues, both in developed and developing economies. The theory covered in the book is robust enough to guide regulators in multiple contexts, including those resulting from the effects of financial or political constraints, evolving market structures or the need to adapt to institutional weaknesses, climate change and poverty concerns that demand regulatory intervention. A bridge between theory and an evolving global practice, this book mobilizes the lessons of the past to analyse the future of economic regulation.




Governing for Revolution


Book Description

For some rebel groups, governance is not always part of a military strategy but a necessary element of realizing revolution through civil war.




The European Yearbook of Business History


Book Description

First published in 1999, this volume aims to reflect on the changing structure, experience and aspirations of European business as it approaches the Millennium, including chapters in issues including business scandals in the Weimar Republic, the evolution of management consultancies in Portugal and Spain and the British Public Sector. The yearbook exploits these changes by serving as a forum for debate in Europe and aims to bring work on individual countries to a wider, European audience. Responding to the challenge of globalization, cooperation within a single European market and an increasing interest in corporate governance and environmental issues, the yearbook broadens to include socio-political issues along with stimulating new types of scholarship among European business historians and new preservation strategies by business archivists.




A Geography of the European Union


Book Description

Can the European Union continue to grow and also converge? Is uniformity within the union desirable? The European Union has grown into a supranational entity formed from a mosaic of diverse regions. Its enlargement to encompass a number of Central European countries seems only a matter of time. With the EU's political and economic importance growing globally, the Union's influence is increasingly being felt within its Member States. A new geography is emerging with pressures to reduce regional disparities by a process of convergence. A Geography of the European Union provides a comprehensive introduction to the European Union, its identity, problems and prospects. Focusing on the key issues of integration and enlargement, the authors examine the major economic, social, environmental and political aspects of the EU, both in terms of its individual regions and as a system of interdependent states that form the single EU entity. Assessment of controversial issues is frank: problems of unemployment, social stress, ageing and the place of women are covered objectively, prompting readers to form their own interpretations. This completely revised and expanded 2nd Edition includes a wealth of new illustrations, data and analysis. Setting the EU within a broader European and global context, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the changing geography of the European Union and its place in a rapidly changing world.







Legal Aspects of Privatisation


Book Description

The main aims of this thesis are as follows:(a) To present a comprehensive analysis of the concept of privatisation its origins and limits, (b) To identify the legal and institutional framework for privatisation in different European countries from a comparative perspective; (c) To define and analyse particularly legal issues which arise during the privatisation transactions: e.g. labour law, competition law etc.; (d) To evaluate which features of the successful legal and organisational framework of privatisation have been successful so as to provide guidelines for those individuals and organisations participating in the privatisation exercises.This work found out that there is no simple, internationally applicable recipe for privatisation; various legal methods and techniques can be used to privatise state owned enterprises. Because each country has different circumstances, it is impossible to provide a unique model for privatisation; each country needs to design its own model according to its circumstances.Privatisation is an essential but insufficient element for structural economic reform in the economy and society. Privatisation is not a panacea, it is not the solution to every economic and administrative problem; selling an enterprise to the private sector does not mean an end to all problems. Also privatisation is not an overnight process or a magic touch; it will be a lengthy process. Furthermore, a decision that something can be privatised does not mean that it should be privatised.In that context, privatisation is not good or bad; it is an economic and social instrument. If it is well designed it may bring substantial benefits to the economy and society.In many countries, many state owned enterprises, particularly the ones which are financially weak, have still not been privatised. This finding revealed that the privatisation process will be in the political and economic agenda for at least few more decades.




The Official History of Privatisation Vol. I


Book Description

This first volume of the Official History studies the background to privatisation, and the privatisations of the first two Conservative Governments led by Margaret Thatcher from May 1979 to June 1987. First commissioned by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair as an authoritative history, this volume addresses a number of key questions: To what extent was privatisation a clear policy commitment within the Thatcher Governments of the 1980s - or did Government simply stumble on the idea? Why were particular public corporations sold early in the 1980s and other sales delayed until well into the 1990s? What were the privatisation objectives and how did they change over time, if at all? How was each privatisation planned and executed, how were different City advisers appointed and remunerated, what precise roles did they play? How was each privatisation administered; in what ways did the methods evolve and change and why? How were sale prices determined? Which government departments took the lead role; what was the input of the Treasury and Bank of England; and what was the relationship between Ministers and civil servants? The study draws heavily from the official records of the British Government to which the author was given full access and from interviews with leading figures involved in each of the privatisations – including ex-Ministers, civil servants, business and City figures, as well as academics that have studied the subject. This new official history will be of much interest to students of British political history, economics and business studies.