Augmenting consumer welfare was a key justification behind the reform of utilities from the 1980s. But, three decades later, evidence is mounting that consumer satisfaction with household utilities is quite uneven. Moreover, governments, regulators and international organizations are...

This chapter asks whether the European Union Member States are ready for inward Foreign Direct Investment from the Emerging Markets. It concludes that European Union Member States have relatively open Foreign Direct Investment regimes in the international context, and yet instances of...

Public infrastructure services have been subject to dramatic regulatory reform since the 1980s in the European Union, particularly privatization, at the national level, and increased liberalization and deregulation, via the Single Market Programme. Despite this ambitious reform programme, there...

This paper analyzes how the European Union has responded to Inward Foreign Direct Investment from Emerging Markets, particularly in the so-called Strategic Industries. Attention is focused on two sectors which have long been considered strategic assets by most countries around the world for...

One of the consequences of major regulatory reform of the telecommunications sector from the end of the 1970s – particularly, privatization, liberalization and deregulation – was the establishment of a new business environment which permitted former national telecommunications monopolies to...

This essay concerns the ways in which public services – particularly household services such as communications, energy, water and transportation – have been regulated and deregulated, and analyses what consequences this has for users and citizens. Much of the deregulation of public services...

One consequence of the liberalization of certain services in the European Union was that a number of formerly inward-looking incumbents in telecommunications and electricity rapidly transformed themselves into some of the world’s leading Multinationals. However, the precise relationship...

For decades, the OECD constituted an economic and political "club" of Western countries focused around the transatlantic axis. Today, it faces unprecedented challenges as the world economy shifts to the East and the South. In response, the OECD is undergoing meaningful reform: it is becoming...

Recognising the declining weight of its members in the world economy, the OECD, formerly known as a ‘club of rich, industrialised nations’, is undergoing unprecedented organisational reform, including a more inclusive membership logic, engagement with new global players, and outreach to...

The European Commission has formally recognised that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. Yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services...