Privatization of Public Services
Impacts for Employment, Working Conditions, and Service Quality in Europe
1st Edition
Published on 21. May 2012
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-415-88493-8 (ISBN)
Description
Public services throughout Europe have undergone dramatic restructuring processes in recent years in connection with liberalization and privatization. While evaluations of the successes of public services have focused on prices and efficiency, much less attention has been paid to the impacts of liberalization and privatization on employment, labor relations, and working conditions. This book addresses this gap by illustrating the ways in which liberalization has contributed to increasing private and foreign ownership of public services, the decentralization of labor relations has amplified pressure on wages, and decreasing employment numbers and increasing workloads have improved productivity partly at the cost of service quality.
Examining diverse public-service sectors including network industries, public transportation, and hospitals, and using international case studies, Privatization of Public Services covers a wide range of aspects of service provision, with particular emphasis on companies and workers. The result is a unique picture of the changes created by the liberalization processes in Europe.
Examining diverse public-service sectors including network industries, public transportation, and hospitals, and using international case studies, Privatization of Public Services covers a wide range of aspects of service provision, with particular emphasis on companies and workers. The result is a unique picture of the changes created by the liberalization processes in Europe.
Reviews / Votes
'Governments everywhere and of nearly all political stripes are turning to privatization of public services and goods as a means to deal with the deficits and debts incurred in stemming the Great Financial Crisis. The wisdom and veracity for doing so is challenged by this important book.' -Bryan Evans, Ryerson University, Canada'Privatisation of Public Services appears at an important moment in the development of public policy. It provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of privatization as it has been carried out across a variety of sectors and in a number of highly integrated economies. Using both primary and secondary data, the authors develop a comprehensive examination of privatization and its effects on constituencies that are all too frequently left out of the analysis. This book provides an insightful, myth-busting analysis of privatization that dispels many of the assumptions that have commonly been held about this controversial policy.' -Bob Russell, Griffith University, Australia
'This book is an outstanding analysis of the mode and consequences of privatization and liberalisation of public services in Europe. Its comprehensive comparison of both sectors and countries makes it useful for both the academic audience and practitioners.' -Franz Traxler, Institut fuer Wirtschaftssoziologie, Austria
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
40 s/w Abbildungen, 2 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 1 s/w Zeichnung, 37 s/w Tabellen
37 Tables, black and white; 1 Line drawings, black and white; 2 Halftones, black and white; 40 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-88493-8 (9780415884938)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Christoph Hermann | Joerg Flecker
Privatization of Public Services
Impacts for Employment, Working Conditions, and Service Quality in Europe
Book
09/2015
1st Edition
Routledge
€82.10
Shipment within 10-20 days
Christoph Hermann | Joerg Flecker
Privatization of Public Services
Impacts for Employment, Working Conditions, and Service Quality in Europe
E-Book
02/2013
1st Edition
Routledge
€69.99
Available for download
Christoph Hermann | Joerg Flecker
Privatization of Public Services
Impacts for Employment, Working Conditions, and Service Quality in Europe
E-Book
02/2013
1st Edition
Routledge
€69.99
Available for download
Persons
Christoph Hermann is a senior researcher at FORBA, the Working Life Research Centre in Vienna and a lecturer at the Department of Government, University of Vienna.
Joerg Flecker is the scientific director of FORBA, the Working Life Research Centre in Vienna and an external professor of the University of Vienna (Faculty of Economics and Business Studies).
Joerg Flecker is the scientific director of FORBA, the Working Life Research Centre in Vienna and an external professor of the University of Vienna (Faculty of Economics and Business Studies).
Content
1. Introduction Christoph Hermann and Joerg Flecker 2. The Process of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Marketisation Christoph Hermann and Koen Verhoest 3. Concentration and Disintegration: Company Responses in the Electricity Sector and Consequences for Employment Christoph Hermann and Richard Pond 4. Between Former Monopolists and New Competitors: Fragmentation and Deterioration of Employment Conditions in Postal Services Torsten Brandt and Christoph Hermann 5. Outsourcing, Competitive Tendering and Changing Working Conditions in Local Public Transport Joerg Flecker and Christer Thoernqvist 6. Hospitals under Growing Pressure from Marketisation and Privatisation Thorsten Schulten and Nils Boehlke 7. Company Responses to Liberalisation and Privatisation and Consequences for Employment and Working Conditions Joerg Flecker and Christoph Hermann 8. Privatisation and the Impact on Employment Wieslawa Kozek, Beata Radzka and Christoph Hermann 9. Privatisation and the Impact on Labour Relations Thorsten Schulten and Torsten Brandt 10. The Struggle for Public Services Christoph Hermann, Julia Kubisa and Thorsten Schulten 11. The Citizen-User Perspective: Results From a Cross-Country Survey Guy van Gyes and Sem Vandekerckhove 12. Conclusion: Impacts of Public Service Liberalisation and Privatisation Christoph Hermann and Joerg Flecker. Contributors. Notes. Index