This title was first published in 2000. This work looks at the privatization of British Rail. It covers the competition for franchises and the regulation of those franchises. The study evaluates the extent to which the promotion of competition was an appropriate policy goal in the privatization of British rail. The book examines the rail system as a whole and looks at the prospects for the future.
Electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, railways, and water supply, are often vertically and horizontally integrated state monopolies. This results in weak services, especially in developing and transition economies, and for poor people. Common problems include low productivity, high costs, bad quality, insufficient revenue, and investment shortfalls. Many countries over the past two decades have restructured, privatized and regulated their infrastructure. This report identifies the challenges involved in this massive policy redirection. It also assesses the outcomes of these changes, as well as their distributional consequences for poor households and other disadvantaged groups. It recommends directions for future reforms and research to improve infrastructure performance, identifying pricing policies that strike a balance between economic efficiency and social equity, suggesting rules governing access to bottleneck infrastructure facilities, and proposing ways to increase poor people's access to these crucial services.
Renowned for its international coverage and rigorous selection procedures, this series provides the most comprehensive and scholarly bibliographic service available in the social sciences. Arranged by topic and indexed by author, subject and place-name, each bibliography lists and annotates the most important works published in its field during the year of 1997, including hard-to-locate journal articles. Each volume also includes a complete list of the periodicals consulted.
At a time when transport is high on the political agenda and government decision-making is being vigorously scrutinised, there is a need for an incisive and accessible analysis of the key policy issues. This book is a highly readable introduction to the transport debate from two experts in the field. The authors celebrate the advantages of a modern transport system, but argue that years of poorly conceived and executed transport policy have resulted in Britain’s transport system being far worse than it should be. They show that a substandard transport system creates economic, social and environmental costs, but demonstrate how these can be addressed through affordable and politically deliverable changes. Using a refreshingly novel approach, Shaw and Docherty use the familiar idea of the journey as the basis for their discussion. The book follows members of the Smith family as they uncover a wide array of transport issues, including why the problems we all encounter as we travel around actually come about; which policy trade-offs were responsible for creating them in the first place; what impacts we all have to suffer as a result; and what we can do to fix them. This lively and engaging approach will make the book ideal for a wide readership.
Comprising contributions from a range of experts, this volume offers a critical commentary on the government's sustainable transport policy. A critical commentary on the Blair government's sustainable transport policy and its implementation. Firmly rooted in an appreciation of the politics of this controversial field. Experts contribute up-to-the-minute analyses of the key issues. Will inform debate over the future of transport policy. Includes a Foreword by David Begg, Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport.
Competition in network industries faces particular problems which are analyzed from both a theoretical and policy perspective. Issues of vertical integration, deregulation and privatization are covered. While competition and privatization are rapidly unfolding in telecommunications in Western and Eastern Europe, energy and railway transportation represent sectors of more gradual liberalization. The different market characteristics of telecommunications, energy and transportation raise consistency problems in the fields of deregulation, investment strategies and internationalization. While transformation policies create opportunities for liberalization in Eastern Europe and Russia the latter shows critical problems in ending monopoly and state ownership. Network industries could be subject to competition and promise major investment opportunities plus consumer benefits.
With the "merger" of the MTRC and the KCRC in 2007, the history of Hong Kong's railways turned a new page. The two government-owned corporations were exceptionally profitable. Yet, this commercially successful railway model was not without social costs and political controversies. Moving Millions critically examines the governance history of the MTRC and the KCRC over the past three decades, and sheds light on the challenges to Hong Kong's railway after the "merger". The author discusses complex relationships between railway management, government policy and politics. Critical issues are analysed, including corporate governance; railway-property development; funding and managing new projects; mismanagement and controversies; public accountability; and passenger interest in fares, choice and convenience. The book compares how differently the MTRC and the KCRC dealt with the government, civil society, the market, and with each other to achieve commercial objectives and tackle public interests issues in a post-industrial society, where public expectations are rising despite constraints in democracy.
This informed and lively book offers a timely analysis of the UK government's sustainable - or subsequently 'integrated' - transport policy 10 years after the publication of A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone. Written by prominent transport experts and with a foreword by Christian Wolmar, the book identifies the modest successes and, sadly, the far more significant failures in government policy over the last decade. The authors also uncover why it has proved so difficult to adopt a more sustainable approach to transport and break Britain's love-affair with the car. The book reviews the links between the idea of sustainability and transport policy, and provides an up-to-the-minute analysis of the political realities surrounding the delivery of a sustainable transport agenda in the UK. It picks up on the principal components of A New Deal for Transport and evaluates to what extent these have, or haven't, been delivered in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The contributors analyse why delivering sustainable transport policies seems to present particular difficulties to ministers across the UK, and considers the UK's experience in an international perspective. The book draws lessons from the last 10 years in order to better inform future policy development. Traffic Jam is an indispensable analysis of the difficulties involved in turning policy ideals into practical reality, and as such will be of interest to scholars, students, planners, policy analysts and policy makers.
. . . a treasure trove of valuable insight and commentary into the utility markets and how they are, and should be, regulated. European Competition Law Review Regulating Utilities and Promoting Competition continues the series of annual books, published in association with the Institute of Economic Affairs and the London Business School, which critically review the state of utility regulation and competition policy. With contributions by some of the leading figures in the field, this important new book presents incisive chapters on a number of prominent topics. These include, amongst others, the future of the railways, the international trade in gas, the economics and politics of wind power and the role of economics in merger reviews. A key feature of the book is the careful examination of fundamental issues, not only from the viewpoint of academic and other independent commentators, but also by the regulators and heads of competition authorities themselves. By addressing significant developments both in Britain and abroad, the authors draw important lessons about the policy changes needed as well as their subsequent implementation. This book will be of great value to practitioners, policymakers and academics alike who are concerned with regulation, deregulation and policies to promote competition.
