Privatization Trends Research Articles

Fostering educational excellence and addressing neoliberal challenges: Perspectives from principals and educators in Arab private schools in Israel

This study delves into the firsthand experiences of educators within private Arab schools in Israel in response to the escalating trends of privatization. Through conducting semi-structured interviews with 10 principals and educators from private institutions, a phenomenological approach was employed to uncover their perspectives on achievements and neoliberal challenges encountered in their educational roles. The findings elucidate a nuanced interplay of factors propelling the privatization process, including the demand for quality education, the cultivation of identity, and discontentment with public schooling systems. Participants highlighted the advantages offered by the flexibility and resources available in private educational settings. Nonetheless, concerns surfaced regarding issues of equitable access, regulatory oversight, workload demands, and clashes with the Ministry of Education’s privatization policies. Educators articulated both the benefits and risks associated with the privatization of schools. The study advocates for the implementation of standardized oversight mechanisms, specialized training to uphold principles of equity, fostering public–private partnerships, and the necessity for further research to shape practical policy that align privatization with educational excellence and equal opportunities. Insights gleaned from educational leaders navigating the complexities of privatization serve as a compass for devising strategies aimed at enhancing Arab schooling through evidence-based reforms.

Examining the influence of global terminal operators on the performance of container terminals via privatization strategies in the maritime sector

Abstract This research navigates the evolving of global trade through an exploration of the strategic evolution of container terminals, with a specific focus on the integral role played by Global Terminal Operators (GTOs) amid prevailing privatization trends. Recognizing container terminals as critical nodes within the maritime supply chain, the study employs a comprehensive approach anchored in SWOT analysis to uncover the nuanced consequences of privatization, accentuating the collaborative influence exerted by GTOs. The research is dedicated to unraveling the intricate dynamics that shape container terminal performance, with a particular emphasis on operational efficiency, financial sustainability, administrative processes, and infrastructure development. In the era of heightened global economic interconnectivity, the study underscores the paramount importance of understanding the implications of privatization strategies. By providing nuanced insights into the strategic role of GTOs, this research transcends the boundaries of individual terminals, offering valuable perspectives for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and academics grappling with the intricacies of maritime infrastructure development in this transformative era.

Private and Public Expenditure on Education in India


 This paper examined the trends in private and public expenditure on education in India during the last seven decades. The analysis is based on public expenditure on education compiled by Ministry of Education, Government of India, that includes expenditure incurred by education department as well as by all other departments on education and training-related programmes and activities. The private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) on education as estimated by the national accounts and statistics (NAS) is the base for private expenditure on education. It is observed from the analysis that India’s spending on education reached its peak in the recent past. Public and private expenditure on education are respectively equivalent to 3.9% and 2.7% of its GDP in 2018-19. Together, the country’s spending on education is equivalent to 6.6% of GDP. A notable trend over the past three decades is that private expenditure on education is growing faster than that of the public. The ratio of public to private in terms of expenditure on education has declined during this period. This reflects increasing privatisation of education in India, and has far reaching policy implications.

The Implementation of a Campus Police in Greece. A Breach of the Anti-authoritarian Historical Heritage of Greek Universities

Émulations received Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos for an interview on the events currently happening in Greek higher education institutions. Invoking law-and-order purposes, Greek authorities have recently decided to introduce a police corps to public universities. This breach in universities’ autonomy has prompted numerous criticisms and mobilizations of Greek students and university staff. Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos shed light on these events and examine them in the context of the Greek financial crisis and the subsequent privatization trend.

Impact of Ownership Structure and Business Diversifications on the Risk-Taking Behaviors of Insurance Companies in Vietnam

This study analyzes the impacts of ownership structure and business diversifications on the risk-taking behaviors of insurance companies in Vietnam. Foreign ownership and institutional ownership in the insurance sector are increasing significantly due to the privatization trend in Vietnam. Besides, business diversification allows insurance firms to maximize profits and reduce insolvency. Therefore, this study enriches the current literature because it is the first to examine how ownership and diversifications affect the risk-taking behaviors of insurance companies in Vietnam. We employ the Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effect Models, Random Effect Models, Generalized Least Squares, and dynamic system Generalized Methods of Moments to analyze 42 insurance companies from 2005 to 2020. Our findings indicate that business diversification increases the risk-taking behaviors of insurance firms. We also figure out a U-shaped relationship between institutional ownership and risk-taking behavior, with a turning point of 9.8%. This study also indicates an inverse U-shaped relationship between foreign ownership and insurers’ risk-taking behaviors, with a turning point of 20%. Thirdly, the interaction terms between ownership and diversification suggest the moderate role of business diversification in increasing the risk of insurance firms. Our findings align with agency theory, stakeholder theory, monitoring hypothesis, expropriation hypothesis, and prior literature. This study contributes practical implications for managers and policymakers to develop the insurance sector sustainably.

Raising the floor while lowering the ceiling: Reduced inequities in education returns in the Philippines

This article examines trends in private returns to education in the Philippines among salaried graduates in 2005 and 2019 – a period during which education participation improved markedly in the country. I find returns to differing levels of attainment converging, with those for higher education falling substantially by 36 % points, relative to those with no grade completed. I further find that among college graduates, the decline was most pronounced for low-wage workers whose returns fell by 69 % points, while those for high-wage ones remained stable. This is an important update to literature which found higher education to provide disproportionate returns to low-wage college graduates a decade prior.

The development of the education system in Qatar: assessing the intended and unintended impacts of privatization policy shifts

ABSTRACT Qatar is caught in the struggle between reformation of its educational system to create a dynamic, local workforce and prepare their citizens for the competitive global market for higher education and jobs, whilst preserving the country’s values, tradition and language. This paper examines the recent policy shifts, hitherto underexplored, analysing the intended and unexpected impacts that influenced subsequent policy reform. It begins with a background on neoliberal educational policies followed by a historical account of the education system, with a focus on post-2011 where the government introduced a voucher system to further privatization. Using quantitative longitudinal analyses based on tabulating detailed government educational reports from 2010 onwards, it aims to investigate the impact of these post-2011 policies on the number of schools, students, gender and demographic composition in the government and private schooling sector. The data illustrates how a simple, linear trend of privatization has not occurred and that significant demographic changes have begun to surface between government and private schools. If these trends continue at the same rate across the next decade, this will likely result in transformative social changes and divisions in relation to identity, language, gender, cultural values, socio-economic status, higher education choices and job opportunities.

Collective payments for ecosystem services: a counterpart of commodification and privatization trends in nature conservation?

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) gained an increasing importance in science and politics within the last decades. Although the enthusiasm about PES is particularly high in Environmental Economics, opponents criticize the market-based character of PES and the associated commodification as well as privatization trends. By means of a systematic literature review we aim at shedding light on the complex and controversial debate about how to define commodification and related privatization processes and how they are linked to PES outcomes. We do so by setting a particular focus on the potentials and challenges of community-based and collective PES (C-PES), also in contrast to PES targeting land under private land tenure (P-PES). Our results reveal that C-PES show promising results when targeting local communities with a high level of social capital. However, there is a lack of studies that systematically assess the relations between different degrees of commodification and the ecological and social outcome of PES programs. For this reason, we provide a new conceptual framework of commodification by highlighting two interrelated spheres, where PES-related commodification processes take place: The first sphere relates to the commodification of ES-providing land, which greatly depends on the land tenure regime in place. The second sphere addresses the commodification of ecosystem services (ES). Our review indicates that C-PES show rather low degrees of commodification in the first sphere because the ES-providing land is often less embedded into private land markets. This is due to often missing alienation rights, more complex decision-making processes, and a potentially lower profit-orientation of the landowners. Empirical long-term studies are needed to investigate changes in both spheres of commodification over time, their potential interactions, and how they affect the outcome of C-PES and P-PES programs.

How platforms govern: Social regulation in digital capitalism

The rise of digital platforms has in recent years redefined contemporary capitalism—provoking discussions on whether platformization should be understood as bringing an altogether new form of capitalism, or as merely a continuation and intensification of existing neoliberal trends. This paper draws on regulation theory to examine social regulation in digital capitalism, arguing for understanding digital capitalism as continuities of existing capitalist trends coming to produce discontinuities. The paper makes three main arguments. First, it situates digital capitalism as a continuation of longer running post-Fordist trends of financialization, digitalization, and privatization—converging in the emergence of digital proprietary markets, owned and regulated by transnational platform companies. Second, as the platform model is founded on monopolizing regulation, platforms come into direct competition with states and public institutions, which they pursue through a set of distinct technopolitical strategies to claim power to govern—resulting in a geographically variegated process of institutional transformation. Third, while the digital proprietary markets are continuities of existing trends, they bring new pressures and affordances, thus producing discontinuities in social regulation. We examine such discontinuities in relation to three aspects of social regulation: (a) from neoliberalism to techno-feudalism; (b) from Taylorist hierarchies toward algorithmic herds and technoliberal subjectivity; and (c) from postmodernity toward an automated consumer culture.

Między zmiennością a racjonalnością – prywatyzacja egzekucji sądowej (część 1). Analiza i ocena wybranych zmian legislacyjnych w latach 1997–2015

An institutional position of a bailiff has never been fully explicit, and the number of amendments introduced in this respect show that this is the area of intensive legislative activity. A purpose of this study is to prove that court enforcement was in the privatization trend in 1997–2015, when the legislator introduced legal changes that approximated a court bailiff to so-called independent legal professions. The author tries to prove his thesis against the shape of three institutions of major importance for court enforcement, namely an enforcement fee, jurisdiction (local competence) and the right to select a bailiff by a creditor. He clearly distinguishes when it is possible to indicate that a change is directed at ius publicum, locating it close to public authorities, and when towards ius privatum. The study allows to make a distinction between the period of limited and full privatization. The author points out that this legislative trend was affected by specific factors, such as effectiveness of court enforcement, burden on bailiff offices and events in media. Keywords: privatization of court enforcement, bailiff, enforcement proceedings, enforcement fee, jurisdiction

Privatization and its aftermath: Are we facing a new displacement force?

The privatization of once publicly-funded affordable housing is the primary tool for preserving and maintaining affordable housing. This process, however, is quietly creating urban migration patterns that are altering the demographic profile of cities with cumulative change that we cannot fully estimate at this stage. There is growing need for a granular analysis at the parcel level to refocus the spotlight on this quiet displacement force. To start filling this lacuna, the article links privatization processes to gentrification and displacement. Through a case study of the privatization of Mitchell Lama buildings on Roosevelt Island, NYC, and the demographic changes it has engendered, this study points to a more significant trend of privatization of housing projects in American cities and worldwide. Its main argument is that, despite their quiet nature, which differs fundamentally from the Urban Renewal projects of the 1960s, the cumulative change they produce may be similar. On this basis, this study's main contribution is an in-depth, small-scale analysis aimed at deciphering the mechanisms, motivations, and decision-making processes of households experiencing ongoing privatization. Through a combination of ethnographic fieldwork, urban historical research, and statistical analysis, the study identifies three urban trends: 1. Privatization may lead to exclusionary displacement through increases in rent and cost of living; 2. Privatization may lead to social displacement pressures such as a sense of loss of place, loss of friends and community, and resentment among long-term residents; and 3. If the right policies are developed, privatization can present an opportunity for upward social mobility.

Neo-liberal or not? Creeping enclosures and openings in the making of fisheries governance

Neo-liberalism can mean different things from different perspectives. Social scientists tend to use the concept to identify and critique trends of privatization, marketization, commodification and enclosures, and their associated slew of exclusionary, dispossessive, and regressive effects. Counterintuitively, governmentality analyses identify how practices of collaboration, inclusion, participation, and empowerment—practices sometimes cited as means to resist and generate alternatives to neo-liberalism—are not only consistent with neo-liberal governing but also central to its functioning. This paper engages a biopolitics and governmentality analytical perspective to examine different kinds of fisheries policies in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada, where the historic cod collapse created a laboratory for examining social-ecological effects of capitalist overexploitation, resource mismanagement, and knowledge system blind spots. The case is useful because it includes, on the one hand, practices traditionally seen as reinforcing neo-liberal governance, such as property making, resource management access rationalization, and global eco-labels, and, on the other hand, practices where linkages to neo-liberalism require more critical assessment, such as fisher-influenced professionalization policies, license collaboration/consolidation initiatives, and producer-oriented eco-labels. Drawing on a governmentality perspective, this paper examines how governance change in NL fisheries is driven not by a single regulatory logic but, rather, by diverse “technologies of government” and “technologies of agency.” Diverse technologies of agency, with varying degrees of links to neo-liberalism, facilitate “creeping” enclosures and openings for fish harvesters in NL fisheries. The paper finds that multi-faceted social protection and coastal community-oriented rationalities of fisher groups are key explanatory variables in shaping practices for and against neo-liberal governance, suggesting that the relationship of diverse neo-liberal, moral economy and hybrid governmentalities to lived experiences requires more empirical and theoretical attention.

How do consumers perceive open‐source seed licenses? Exploring a new credence attribute

AbstractCritical consumerism is the conscious choice of purchasing or avoiding products for ethical or environmental reasons. As an increasing share of consumer attempts to purchase sustainably produced food, credence attributes, which are product qualities that are not easily observable or verifiable during purchase or consumption, gain importance. Variety ownership has so far not played any role in food consumption choices but is a new type of credence attribute that may gain relevance through the recent introduction of open‐source seed licenses. Such licenses aim to safeguard agrobiodiversity, ensure long‐term access to plant genetic resources and counter current privatization trends in the seed industry. The labeling of open‐source produce could help to upscale the concept and enable consumers to support the safeguarding of biodiversity through their consumption choices. However, as the first open‐source varieties become available for purchase, consumers’ perspectives on open‐source seed licenses remain unclear. In this paper, we, hence, examine German consumers’ perceptions of open‐source seed licenses. The analysis of 228 thinking‐aloud protocols, based on qualitative data collected in a conventional and an organic supermarket in Berlin, Germany, serves as an empirical basis. We find that most consumers have a highly positive evaluation of open‐source seed licenses, regardless of whether they fully understand the concept or not. The license is widely perceived to provide a counter‐model to current industrial seed‐ and agricultural production. Specifically, it is believed to (1) prevent the privatization of plant genetic resources, (2) contribute to the conservation and enhancement of agrobiodiversity, (3) support (small‐scale) farmers and (4) prevent market concentration. To what extent these perceptions coincide with personal preferences for taste, health, safety and quality remains to be explored. The concept may specifically cater to certain consumer segments, including highly educated, young to middle‐aged, organically minded consumers.

Attractiveness of the Megaproject Labor Market for Metropolitan Residents in the Context of Digitalization and the Long-Lasting COVID-19 Pandemic

The article aims to determine the nature of changes in the attractiveness of the labor market of megaprojects from the perspective of megapolis residents under the conditions of digitalization and the long-lasting pandemic of COVID-19. The paper develops a scientific-methodological and categorical-conceptual apparatus with the support of empirical methods with distance methods. The study shows that the attractiveness of the labor market of megaprojects has undergone certain changes for megapolis residents under the current conditions. The factors of the attractiveness of the labor market of megaprojects are of a stable nature in the minds of megapolis residents. The main advantage of the work is the identification of trends in the changes of the megaproject labor market and the relationships they have. The study reveals both general and private trends. The obtained results can be used for further study of the megaproject labor market and the improvement of the social policy of the state and megalopolises in the conditions of digitalization and the prolonged pandemic.

Postcoloniality in Global and Regional Dimensions

The article reflects the results of research in the North-South Group focused on the development of the polycentric, personalized and mobile Universe, while the ensemble of interconnected influential concepts (postmodernity and postcoloniality) had been analyzed. The current view on globalization as a political and economic cohesion of the modern world, contrasts the view on global restructuring as a consequence of the crisis of institutions of world bureaucracy, collectivist ideo-party totality, others unifying administrative and sociocultural mechanics. Attention is drawn to the trends of individuation and privatization, substitution of subordination by subsidiarity, which reflects the crisis of the national statehood format. The complex reality that arises in the bosom of modern culture, implements its own polycentricity, based not on the etatist symphony, but on a distributed set of diasporas, corporate or personal sovereignty. Postmodernity, denying the former world order, reproduces the semblance of a post-colonial situation, which allows us to turn to the experience of countries that have gained political sovereignty and mastered their new status in its various versions. Coloniality is understood as the result of hegemony, which goes beyond the prevailing interpretation of colonialism, but as a repressive emanation of the hegemonic world, offering subaltern other two modus of behavior: submission or subjugation assimilation, denying the legality of alternative self-realization or resistance. Pathos of post-modern, post-imperial and post-colonial positions declares the right of the individual and the communities to realize their original identity, dissimilation of former loyalties and sovereign search for alternatives. The universal quest is for political, sociocultural and semantic counter-hegemony, which also denies the current world to be an instrument of the modal-assimilation complex knowledge - power. The urgency of this problem was confirmed by the riots that broke out in the United States and other parts of the world in 2020.

Factors influencing sustainability of traditional village groves (Maeulsoop) in Korea

This study examines the sustainability of traditional village groves (Maeulsoop), forest commons, in South Korea, and investigates factors influencing their sustainability. We assessed the socio-economic functions and ecological conditions of twenty-four village groves in Namwon City, South Korea, and evaluated the sustainability of these village groves. Variables (ownership, self-governance, forest size and location, and village population) were selected based on the social-ecological systems framework, and the influence of these variables on the sustainability of village groves was examined. Out of the twenty-four village groves studied, three (12.5%) turned out to be sustainable with the socio-economic functions maintained and in a healthy state, eight (33.3%) were unsustainable with some of socio-economic functions lost and in an unhealthy state, and thirteen (54.2%) were in a tradeoff state between socio-economic functions and ecological health. Positive relationships between sustainability and the ownership of village groves and the existence of a self-governing management body in villages were observed. This result suggests that when villages own their groves and/or villages have the self-governance, village groves tend to be more sustainable. In addition, forest size, village population, and distance to village center are correlated to the sustainability of village groves. Larger village groves still play a role as a windbreak or flood bank and are more ecologically resilient than smaller groves. Depopulation has led to a lack of labor force that can manage village groves, and village groves located far from villages are less accessible for use by villagers, and thus can be left and neglected without proper monitoring and management. Considering the recent trend of rural depopulation and privatization of commons, this study suggests that collaborations among villages and organizations outside villages are necessary to restore the governance systems and sustainably manage village groves.

Regional HRM Trends in Private and Public Sectors: A Comparative Approach

This study analyses the similarities (convergence) and differences (divergence) in human resource (HR) practices in the private and public sectors in 32 countries over a 12 year period. The paper starts with New Public Management (NPM) overview and its critiques and then discusses HR convergence, divergence and cross-vergence tendencies. Using the Cranet database of HR practitioner-employee ratio, performance appraisal systems use and application, unionization levels and training days metrics, analysis focuses on the three groupings of NPM countries, Central and Eastern European countries and all other countries. The hypothesis that HR practices of private and public sectors differ less in NPM countries than in the other two groups of countries is partially supported.

‘Tomorrow Is Today’ for the Indian Space Saga: Delineating the Legal Framework for Space Activities in India

This article aims to study India’s robust space programme, against the backdrop of the current legal regime under which it operates. It further delves into the need for national space legislation vis-à-vis the recent burgeoning trend of privatization. To this end, this article analyses the draft 2017 Space Activities Bill introduced for consultation by the Government of India, and concludes with the recommendation that India adopt an all-encompassing national space legislation. outer space, ISRO, Indian Space Research Organisation, space activities, Indian space programme, privatization, IN-SPACe, Space Activities Bill 2017

From the Ashes of the Old: A New Deal for Wildland Firefighters

From the Ashes of the OldA New Deal for Wildland Firefighters Daniel Boguslaw (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution The Texas Canyon Hotshot crew fights a fire July 2016. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images) [End Page 102] Last summer, the fires creeping up from Salem, Oregon, and the base of the Cascades colored Portland’s skies a sickly red. While it’s extremely difficult for an urban metropolis to burn, the satellite images of smoke spreading out over the Pacific made it seem as though cataclysm wasn’t far off. In the fall, after what might have been the worst fire season ever recorded in the western United States, the smoke subsided, but the sense of unease remained. In the summers of 2017 and 2018, I lived in Portland while waiting for the call to pack up and head to my fire crew’s dispatch in the Columbia River Gorge. I worked on a twenty-person handcrew, chainsawing snags in the pine stands of eastern Oregon and driving across barren straits of sage scrub in Montana’s wilderness. Once, atop granite cliffs in Idaho, we scouted for spot fires smoldering out between the juniper and cattle carcasses, tongues of dry lightning flickering above the hills. During sixteen-hour shifts in the smoke, under the roar of helicopters, a new reality takes shape, divorced from the familiarities of a world not yet ablaze. After just a few days, your sense of smell is cut in half, and soon it almost completely disappears. During long truck rides and in thickets of poison oak, civilization faded. The people I worked with were the only constant in an ever-changing natural landscape. On the crew, we developed a fragile but potent solidarity. We were one part of a privatized and fractured workforce mobilized each summer then abandoned in the winter. Across California and the Pacific Northwest, tens of thousands of workers battle fire without labor protections or benefits, for wages that fluctuate wildly between state minimums and more than $20 an hour for the veteran U.S. Forest Service employee or private crew boss. Between private contractors, state agencies, and federal bureaus, there are vast discrepancies in training and efficacy. As the United States slips closer to ecological collapse, the organization of America’s wildland labor force must be radically overhauled if there is to be any hope in combating our climate emergency. A massive job [End Page 103] mobilization expanding the public workforce, reversing the trend of privatization, securing a living wage for tens of thousands of firefighters, and multiplying year-round positions that address the increasingly complex factors that lead to megafires is the best hope we have to confront the fire-storm that threatens to engulf the West Coast. ________ In 2020, more than 58,250 wildfires burned some 10.3 million acres across the United States. California was hammered by the fires, as were Colorado, Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest. At a high-profile September meeting with President Donald Trump, California Governor Gavin Newsom blamed climate change for the crisis. Trump prescribed forest management. Media on both sides of the political spectrum began the usual onslaught of op-eds and news segments confirming their preferred causal mechanism. The exact impact climate change has on wildfires is still not completely understood, but there is no doubt global warming plays a complex and increasingly severe role. Warming has accelerated the creep of invasive flora across California’s deserts, which dry out into an alien mat that serves as a novel fuel source in an ancient and once predictable ecosystem. Carbon emissions have not only accelerated warming but also changed wind patterns, the predictability of snow melt, and soil erosion—all of which affect wildfires. Over the past fifty years, data from the Congressional Research Service shows that the biggest burn years by acreage were 2006, 2007, 2012, 2015, 2017, and now 2020. To claim that the catastrophic fires are solely the result of climate change, however, misses the forest for the trees. As Mike Davis details in his 1995 essay “The Case for Letting Malibu Burn,” catastrophic wildfires are intimately tied to development in natural fire areas. For...

Cost of Outpatient Department Services at a Community Health Center of Bankura, West Bengal.

Background:Changing trends of privatization and globalization of health care compel the hospitals to practice cost accounting for providing accurate information about the cost of patient care.Objectives:The objectives were to determine unit cost and to identify major cost areas of outpatient department (OPD) services provided by the community health center (CHC) of Bankura district, West Bengal.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted at Amarkanan CHC in 2016. Work sampling (WS) and time motion (TM) study were conducted for assessing the workforce cost, otherwise complete enumeration was done to assess the cost of different service areas such as medicine, logistic, maintenance, transport, electricity, building, equipment, and furniture. A predesigned pro forma and a questionnaire were used for WS and TM study and for interviewing the key informants for collection of information pertaining to different costs. Unit cost of different services as well as overall unit cost was estimated.Results:If a patient received injection, undergone dressing, and had electrocardiogram and X-ray both done in a day, then the total cost of OPD services for workforce was Rs. 85.33/. Cost of logistics per patient per day was maximum in X-ray room. Manpower exerted the maximum cost incurred by the government to conduct OPD in Amarkanan CHC. Overall, the unit cost in OPD incurred by the government was Rs. 44.53/-.Conclusion:Close monitoring is required by aligning the staffing pattern and patient activities and having adequate number of staff with right skill at right place and time for efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness.