Privatization Efforts Research Articles

Impact of Electricity Power Consumption on Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Threshold Regression Analysis Approach

Despite the abundance of several electricity sources in Nigeria and Government efforts in attracting private sector investment over the last two decades, the country is still facing several challenges which includes investment, electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and labour related issues that has contributed to dwindling economic fortunes. Therefore, this paper investigated the relationship between electricity power consumption and economic growth in Nigeria from 1990 to 2022. The paper employed a Threshold Regression Approach. The results revealed that the paper observed a negative relationship with economic growth in the regime characterized by low electricity power consumption values of -0.2381. Conversely, higher electricity power consumption values of 0.2556 established a positive relationship in the regime. These findings underscored a nonlinear relationship between economic growth and electricity power consumption following the endogeneously determined threshold value of 0.1301. The study’s implications for policy and investment decisions in Nigeria are profound. The results highlighted the critical role of electricity power consumption growth in shaping economic growth. Policymakers and stakeholders are urged to consider initiatives promoting the expansion and modernization of the power sector, involving infrastructure investment and attracting private sector involvement. Moreover, recognizing the positive influence of labor force growth values of 0.2670 on economic growth, there is an opportunity to harness Nigeria’s abundant labor force. Policy recommendations include a focus on workforce development, education, and training to enhance the skills and productivity of the labor force. In light of the non-significant impact of investment growth (-0.0025) on economic growth, a re-evaluation of privatization efforts in the power sector is recommended. Policymakers should prioritize attracting meaningful investments directed at power sector infrastructural development and create an environment conducive to private sector participation, fostering sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.

Transforming the Cimerwa Cement Manufacturing Company in Rwanda through Privatization to Enhance Profitability

The research targeted the challenges encountered in the privatization process impacting the profitability of Cimerwa Cement Manufacturing Company in Rwanda. This investigation held significance for CIMERWA, the researcher, and future scholars. Adopting a case study approach, the research engaged 172 CIMERWA employees, with a sample size of 64 selected through stratified and random sampling methods. Questionnaires and documentary analysis facilitated primary and secondary data collection, while reliability and validity of the instruments were validated via pilot research using Cranach’s Alpha and expert evaluations. SPSS software was employed for data analysis.Findings indicated that inadequate privatization strategies at CIMERWA hinder long-term sustainable performance and goal attainment, leading to escalated capital and maintenance costs, ultimately impacting the company's prosperity. The study emphasized that CIMERWA's efficiency in profitability hinges on its focus on crucial aspects such as material handling systems, warehousing, cost-effective profitability measures, supply chain and inventory management, all pivotal in organizational management. In terms of the benefits derived from privatization efforts, 23.4% of respondents affirmed that these services ensured accountability for profitability, while 60.9% attested to their role in ensuring profitability accountability. Employing the Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS revealed a strong 96.3% correlation between privatization efforts and profitability. Keywords: Privatization, CIMERWA cement, Profitability, Accountability, Employees.

“The watchdog is siding with the thieves”: Failing neoliberal policies and successful derisking in the Global South

In this study, we examine how a State in the Global South implemented neoliberal policies aiming at derisking private investments whose outcomes were opposite to expectations. We focus on the strategy, tactics, and maneuvers used by the State to defend these policies formally. Through an in-depth case study of the Pakistani State’s privatization efforts in its electricity sector, we confirm that the State seeks to derisk investments but also to derisk neoliberal policies in general by assuming full responsibility for their failure. This acceptance of responsibility preserves the symbolic capital of the specific policies but also of the neoliberal project in general regardless of outcomes. Our findings add texture to the notion of derisking in the Global South and document the transfer of symbolic capital to multilateral lending organizations from the State. We observe the State is not only an enabler and enforcer of neoliberal policies but also their exonerator when failures appear.

Breaking the cycle of corruption in Nigeria's electricity sector: Off-grid solutions for local enterprises

Access to electricity is a major constraint to economic growth in Nigeria. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are arguably the segment of the Nigerian economy most disadvantaged by a lack of access to reliable power. Due to the failure of grid-based supply, over 80 % of SMEs rely on a generator to power operations. Inclusive, diversified growth in the country depends on growth of the SME sector. This paper examines how SME grid access can be improved given the technical inefficiencies and systemic corruption in the sector. In line with the political settlements framework we provide a macro-analysis of the sector which helps address and identify a solution for the main research problem of how to solve the power constraints Nigerian SMEs face. Our research, conducted between 2018 and 2019, but still valid currently, as the features we describe have not evolved substantially, identifies that the reasons for the failure of grid-based supply is a combination of interdependent factors. Technical inefficiency in the grid is high. Revenue shortfalls have also resulted in extensive government bailouts. These inefficiencies are compounded by ‘legacy’ and recent corruption that has led to poor maintenance of the transmission network during state-ownership and to the presence of politically-connected bidders in the recent privatisation efforts, leading to sub-optimal outcomes. Any solution for SMEs has to take this sectoral configuration into account. Our strategy is supported by focus groups discussions and interviews with over 30 clustered firms in the South Eastern SME hubs of Onitsha, Aba, and Nnewi.

A crusade and the crowd of the dead: Understanding the logic of the U.S. right’s attacks on public education

Recognizing that the American right, and specifically the Christian right, has achieved disproportionate power over shaping the landscape of education policy and political culture, the following engages in a twofold analysis of schooling in the United States. We consider the structural transformations that are being enacted as a result of the proliferation of (Christian) public charters and other privatization efforts as well as reactionary undertakings that have purposefully targeted the daily life of schools from administration to curriculum and pedagogy since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (for example: disruptions at school board meetings, threatening school officials, anti-LGBTQ and anti-anti-racism hysteria, among others). We put these minoritarian interjections in conversation with Elias Canetti’s “crowd of the dead” and consider the effects of this political activity in producing civic and social death while seeking to destabilize public institutions and institutional arrangements that should safeguard against the manufacturing of (civic) death.

Dual Use of Off-Premise Outlets for Alcohol and Grocery Purchases: Results From the East Bay Neighborhoods Study

Alcohol privatization efforts have enabled consumers in many states in the United States to purchase alcohol in a variety of off-premise outlets, including grocery stores. This study examines the dual use of outlets to purchase both alcohol and groceries and the extent to which dual use is related to individual income, neighborhood income, and local physical availability of alcohol. The East Bay Neighborhoods Study surveyed residents from 72 microecological neighborhoods across six cities in Alameda County, California. Eligible respondents who purchased alcohol in the last year (n = 707) were asked about the off-premise outlet in which they most often purchase alcohol. Purchasing behaviors within this outlet, including purchasing groceries and frequency of visits to the outlet, were assessed. Multilevel logistic regression and negative binomial models assessed outcomes. Seventy-three percent of participants reported dual use of their most used outlet for groceries and alcohol. In adjusted models, dual use of the outlet was not associated with individual income, alcohol use, or neighborhood outlet density but was positively associated with neighborhood income and the number of outlet visits. After adjustment, dual use of the most used outlet was associated with 0.77 more visits per 28 days. Results suggest that convenience and reduced time costs for purchasing alcohol encourage the dual use of outlets, particularly in high-income neighborhoods. Differences in the dual use of outlets and frequency in outlet use by neighborhood environments highlight the importance of understanding the role of alcohol availability in distinct neighborhood income and outlet-level contexts.

Counterclaims in Investment Arbitration: Saluka v The Czech Republic

This paper considers the availability of host state counterclaims in investment arbitration using as a case study Saluka v. The Czech Republic, the first decision under the 1976 UNCITRAL Rules and considered “the most comprehensive consideration of arbitral jurisdiction over counterclaims in investor-state dispute settlement.” Section II provides the historical background to Saluka, with specific reference to the Czech transitional economy following the fall of the Iron Curtain, banking sector privatization efforts, use of a mass voucher system, and an overview of the arbitral proceedings. Section III considers the unique “arbitration without privity” nature of investor-state proceedings and the Tribunal’s search for consent over counterclaims in (i) the treaty text of the Netherlands-Czech BIT, (ii) the underlying contract at issue containing a separate mandatory arbitration clause, (iii) the 1976 UNCITRAL Rules, and (iv) the procedural problems presented by privity of contract and the determination of proper parties to the dispute. Section IV weighs the Tribunal’s restrictive test, requiring sufficient juridicial connexity between counterclaims and primary claims, against criticism. Section V concludes that enduring problems presented by Saluka (e.g. protection of vulnerable transitional economies against predatory foreign investment), which echo across an investor-state dispute settlement system in the throes of a legitimacy crisis, may be better resolved through robust creation of substantive obligations, such as an International Convention on Foreign Investment, rather than a reimagining of an already imperfect procedural framework for counterclaims.

Localizing the Human Right to Water in Lagos State, Nigeria

Nigeria’s water sector is characterised by abysmal network coverage despite significant natural water resources potential. Most of the water sector reforms across the country encourage private sector participation in service delivery, to improve quality and efficiency. Early attempts at water privatization in Lagos State, a pioneer for water sector reforms in Nigeria, have met with stiff opposition from local water justice advocates, mostly on human rights grounds. Similar opposition has followed water reforms and privatization efforts in other parts of the country as well. Hence, this paper uses Lagos State as a case study to examine the prospects for the localisation of the human right to water within the context of private sector participation in the water sector. The findings suggest that: (a) private sector participation solely cannot account for the failure to localize the human right to water and the legal framework regulating the water sector plays an important role in determining the outcome; (b) the extant water sector law in Lagos State entrenches various forms of inequality in water access for personal and domestic uses; and (c) there is need for further legal reforms to elevate access to safe drinking water services beyond the contractual obligation on consumers to pay for services to a human right.

Analysis of Water Funding in Assesment of the Changing Attribute of Water Publicity: A Case of Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality

Doğal bir kaynak, bir insan hakkı ve canlı yaşamı için hayati önemde bir faktör (kaynak) olan su niteliği gereği kamusaldır. Son 30 yıllık süreçte suyun niteliğinde bir değişim yaşanmakta ve su özel bir mala dönüşmektedir. Bu çalışmada niteliği gereği kamusal olan suyun özel bir mala dönüştüğünü küresel düzeyde ispatlamaktır. Bunu yapabilmek için suyun faydasını ve suyun finansmanında kullanılan fiyatlandırma ve politikaları incelemek gerekmektedir. Türkiye’de ve diğer ülkelerde suyu özelleştirme çabalarının altında, sudaki kar potansiyelinin olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Çalışmada, kamusal alan araştırması örneğinde, suyun finansmanı bu alandaki faaliyet raporları verileri ile birlikte matematiksel hesaplama yöntemi ile analiz edilmiştir. Bu çerçevede çalışmanın hipotezi; su kıtlığının neden olduğu ve canlı yaşamını (insan yaşamını) tehdit eden olumsuzluklardan dolayı suyun kamusal kalmasının gerekliliği ortaya koyulmuştur.

An intersection of privatization and public utility regulation: The Ohio State University's energy concession agreement

U.S. colleges and universities have for some time joined the privatization movement where university functions and assets are turned over to private contractors. Here we present a case of a 50-year comprehensive energy concession agreement by The Ohio State University that generated an up-front payment exceeding a billion dollars. The agreement, with many principles and design practices borrowed directly from economic regulation of public utilities and against the backdrop of the literature on privatization and contract theory, provides an insightful case that informs these literature, as well as future privatization efforts by universities and other large-scale public organizations.

Surveying the Lands of RepublicanIndígenas: Contentious Nineteenth-Century Efforts to Abolish IndigenousResguardosnear Bogotá, Colombia

AbstractNineteenth-century republicans across the political spectrum agreed: the Spanish monarchy produced ‘miserable Indians’. Abolishing tribute and privatising communal lands, known asresguardosin New Granada (roughly today's Panama and Colombia), would transform that wretched class into equal citizens. Drawing on late eighteenth-century privatisation efforts by the Spanish Crown, early republican leaders in Gran Colombia inaugurated an era seeking equal access to wealth from communal land for all indigenous community members. After Gran Colombia (the first Colombian Republic, 1819–30) dissolved into New Granada, Ecuador and Venezuela in 1830, New Granada's experiments with indigenousresguardopolicies went further. By then, legislative efforts considered the needs of allresguardomembers, including unmarried mothers and their illegitimate children. Complex laws, diverse ecological terrain and nuanced social realities required well-trained surveyors to ensure each eligible indigenous family received a fair share of land. Whereas indigenous communities in Pasto, Santa Marta and the Cauca river valley resorted to armed insurrection against liberal policies through the War of the Supremes (1839–42), those in the highlands near Bogotá did not. Instead, these republicanindígenas– with their greater access to the levers of power housed in the national capital – chose to engage in the reforms of a decentralising state. This article reveals how contentious experiments seeking republican equality within indigenousresguardosas a path towards abolishing the institution were consistently stymied by efforts to ensure that indigenous community governance and communal landholding remained intact.

WHAT DO CITIZENS THINK ABOUT PUBLIC ENTERPRISES? SUBJECTIVE SURVEY DATA ON THE LEGITIMACY OF THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF THE GERMAN PUBLIC SECTOR

ABSTRACTWe analyse the legitimacy of public enterprises that perform economic activities by focusing on the citizens’ subjective preferences, i.e. determining their political legitimacy. Using data from a representative survey conducted among 318 citizens of the German state of Rhineland‐Palatine, we explore determinants for the support of either privatisation efforts or the instrumental thesis, a widespread principle in German‐speaking countries, which considers public enterprises solely as instruments to fulfil economic policy objectives. Our results indicate that the respondents’ perception of the efficiency of public enterprises as well as their personal economic situation are important factors for the support of privatisation. The influential factors for the use of public enterprises as policy instruments are political ideology, the perception of a higher security of supplying goods and services as well as opinions regarding corporate social responsibility. The subjective preferences of a (democratic) country's citizens are thus an important reason why the public sector should or should not play an active part in providing goods and services. This can play an important role when decision makers from the public sector are keen to take into account the citizens’ approval or disapproval of privatisation measures.

The privatization of roads: An overview of the Turkish case

There has been a global drastic policy shift from the public provision of major infrastructure services to privatization, and Turkey is no exception to this tendency. Following the slow-down of privatization efforts in the 90s, the last decade has witnessed a jump in Turkish infrastructure privatizations. Despite this recovery, however, Turkish road privatizations still fail to significantly outperform other transport modes unlike global trends and especially lagged behind airport privatizations. In a country like Turkey, which is in need of substantial road investments and expresses its policy priority of enlarging its road network, this relatively lower performance needs elaborate evaluation. The aim of this paper is to fill in this gap by analyzing Turkish road privatizations, discussing implemented privatization schemes and their characteristics, and providing some policy lessons. The findings reveal that the lack of pre-bid studies such as accurate origin–destination matrices and surveys on the willingness to pay behavior prevent the effective risk management of road privatizations. In addition, the analyses also suggest that Turkish public authorities might overuse traffic and revenue guarantees to stimulate greenfield road privatizations through the Build-Operate-Transfer scheme.

Institutional influence on power sector investments: A case study of on- and off-grid energy in Kenya and Tanzania

With the recent decline of renewable energy technology costs—most notably solar photovoltaics —off-grid energy systems are becoming increasingly attractive alternatives to grid extension for advancing rural electrification in Africa. However, there are institutional challenges to wider adoption of off-grid solutions. Combining a multi-level perspective with project funding data from the Kenyan and Tanzanian energy sectors, we assess the extent to which these new off-grid technologies have been incorporated into the existing energy regimes in both countries. Using a qualitative assessment of academic literature and official documents, and a quantitative assessment of energy investments, we find that although international development agencies have provided financial support for niche, off-grid companies, both global donors and the regime electricity sector operators in Kenya and Tanzania continue to favor on-grid and grid extension activities. While landscape influences on both countries are similar, we find that differences within the institutional regimes result in different development pathways for off-grid niches. In Kenya, unbundling and privatization efforts have attracted private investment in both on- and off-grid projects. Tanzania has more relaxed regulations for off-grid power producers, and a clearer regulatory framework for allowing off-grid operators to impose cost-reflective tariffs, which creates a supportive environment for niche innovation.

Environmental Governance – From Public to Private?

This paper analyzes the expanded role of private actors and markets in environmental governance. The public goods dimension of environmental services renders privatization and trading challenging. To illustrate the key issues involved, a series of privatization efforts and market creations are reviewed. Despite the focus on privatization, the empirical material shows that the role of the state is still very pronounced. It defines the commodities and property rights, and plays a key role in setting up and regulating the markets. In the case of payments for ecosystem services, public authorities even appear as the dominant ‘trader’. Privatization and markets may reduce costs of delivering the service, while this is not universally true. Moreover, the service delivered often is transformed to make trade possible. Finally, high transaction costs may prohibit the creation of markets. The conflict between public goods delivery and private profit motive makes public control both important and difficult. Finally, several distributional issues following this neo-liberal development are highlighted.

A colonial history of the higher education present: rethinking land-grant institutions through processes of accumulation and relations of conquest

ABSTRACTThis conceptual paper examines the colonial conditions of possibility for a formative moment of US public higher education, the Morrill Act of 1862, and considers how these conditions continue to shape the present. The federal government’s accumulation of Indigenous lands in the nineteenth century helped provide the material base for land-grant legislation, and although conquest of the frontier was eventually metaphorized in higher education discourse, public institutions remain both dependent on and vulnerable to the imperatives of accumulation that were established during colonization, as is evident in contemporary privatization efforts. I argue that if efforts to resist privatization fail to address how colonialism has historically shaped US public goods, then these efforts risk re-naturalizing the imperative of capital accumulation and relations of conquest.

Property and carceral spaces in Christiania, Copenhagen

This article addresses the recent legal and property changes, and their socio-spatial consequences in Christiania, Copenhagen. During recent years the community that has always been against private ownership has lost its special legal status, and has become a property owner of a vast area in the middle of Copenhagen. We analyse the situation in relation to Christiania’s current housing condition, individual residents’ privatisation efforts, and decades-long normalisation efforts by the state. We argue that the processes of normalisation, legalisation, criminalisation and privatisation are expressions of the carceral in more-than-institutional context, and that questions of property are strongly involved in these carceral practices in Christiania. Not only in the relations between Christiania and the state, but also in socio-spatial relations inside of the community, defining who is included or excluded, or how people behave towards each other. Moreover, a part of the community is cultivating a carceral culture towards those in favour of privatisation, using the rights of the property owner and the community’s ideologies as justifications.

Velvet Disillusionment: Czech Performing Arts and Twenty-Five Years of Transition, 1989–2014

ABSTRACTThe performing arts sector of the Czech Republic faces significant challenges twenty-five years after the Velvet Revolution, which ushered in swift and dramatic political, social, and economic change. Early policy decisions, subsequent privatization efforts, and neglect, compounded by the country's foray into the muddy waters of the free market, have left artists and administrators seeking solutions and searching for solvency. Empirical research, primarily in the form of surveys, site visits, and interviews with prominent Czech artists and administrators, significantly informs this article, which explores the state of Czech performing arts twenty-five years after the fall of Communism.

An assessment of households’ perceptions of private security companies and crime in urban Ghana

Amidst the growing incidence of urban crime in Ghana is the proliferation of private security companies (PSCs). As of December 2014, Ghana’s Ministry of Interior, responsible for the registration and regulation of PSCs, reported that there were as many as 176 licensed companies in ‘good standing’ (that is, companies which have renewed their operating licenses) in the country. In broad terms, the proliferation of PSCs reflects a global trend and represents a logical extension of economic liberalization and privatization efforts of the Ghanaian state. The broad proposition in the security literature is that as the state cuts back on public services such as policing and security, the popular doctrine of resilience shifts the burden of security to society and consequently justifying the use of private security organizations. While PSCs have proliferated in recent decades, little studies have been done regarding their conformity with the existing policy, institutional and legal framework that set them up and the public perceptions about their activities and crime prevention in Ghanaian cities. More importantly, the extent to which PSCs have impacted on crime incidence and the public’s perceptions on their operations and accessibility remain to be explored. Based on key informant interviews as well as a survey of 2745 households undertaken in key Ghanaian cities (Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale), this study seeks to bridge these knowledge gaps by critically examining households’ perceptions of PSCs and crime in large Ghanaian metropolitan cities. Quite contrary to the dominant propositions in the literature, the household survey identifies job creation/business as the single most important driver for the proliferation of PSCs.

Overcoming the euro crisis and prospects for a political union

The euro crisis and a new debate about immigration in Europe have undermined support for the EU while the unsolved Greek debt problems as well as the ECB’s quantitative easing policy have raised new crucial policy issues. It is necessary to identify the key issues of Eurozone stabilization and to clarify the economic benefits from monetary integration. As regards the economic welfare analysis of the euro, the new model presented shows the benefits of the euro’s reserve currency position, namely in the framework of a neoclassical growth model with seigniorage based on international reserve holdings. Discounted benefits are about 10,000 € per capita in a stable Euro area. Thus the benefits are bigger than often considered, at the same time one may raise the question of whether the existing institutional setting of the Eurozone is sufficient for achieving long-term stability and prosperity. As regards the envisaged third rescue package for Greece it is emphasized that a haircut of public creditors along with adoption of a Greek capital levy plus privatization efforts are required to achieve debt sustainability and growth. The traditional interpretation of subsidiarity in the EU is found to be misleading and the vertical division of politics is destabilizing.