Abstract
Since the late twentieth century, a significant number of public service providers operating in networks, previously defined as nationally-bound entities largely owned and controlled by the state, have embarked on aggressive expansion strategies abroad. This transnationalisation was a consequence of 1970s organisational reform, particularly privatisation, sectoral liberalisation and the liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment. This article examines the recent organisational transformations of public service providers, particularly those based in the European Union, that have been at the forefront of this development, with a particular focus on electricity, telecommunications and postal services. Public service provider transformation, including transnationalisation, has significant consequences for work inside these organisations.
Highlights
Since the post war period, at least, public service providers operating in networks such as water and sewage, electricity, gas, telecommunications, postal services and transportation, have been associated with the provision of basic public services at the national or local level
The main triggers for the renewed transnationalisation of public network services were the liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regimes, privatisation and sectoral liberalisation programmes
If we look at the median revenue per employee in 2007 of the largest companies in the world by sector, for electricity and gas companies this was $997,000, for telecommunications it was $416,000 and $117,000. for postal services These figures correlate with revenues per asset which for electricity and gas are $2 million, for telecommunications $814,000, and for postal services only $100,000
Summary
Since the post war period, at least, public service providers operating in networks such as water and sewage, electricity, gas, telecommunications, postal services and transportation, have been associated with the provision of basic public services at the national or local level. The main triggers for the renewed transnationalisation of public network services were the liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regimes, privatisation and sectoral liberalisation programmes This recent transformation of public network services from nationally-bound organisations to TNCs is attracting attention from researchers (Clifton, Comín & Díaz-Fuentes 2007; Hausman, Hertner & Wilkins 2008; UNCTAD 2008), and raising many new questions thatwill occupy scholars for years to come. Section three synthesises some of the most recent research on the consequences of this transformation of public network services for work and employment, focusing on telecommunications, electricity and postal services, and poses some questions for future research A similar observation is true for EDF (ranked 63rd for its $74 billion revenue but with only 159,000 staff), RWE (ranked 105th for revenue with $57 billion butonly 64,000 staff), Suez (ranked 106th for revenue with $57 billion and 193,000 staff), Enel (ranked 124th with $48 billion revenue and 73,500 staff) and Endesa (ranked 258th with $26 billion revenue and 27,000 staff)
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