Rail Privatisation: The Practice – An Analysis of Seven Case Studies

After a brief description of the proposals for rail privatisation in Great Britain, this paper contrasts these with the proposals and experience in other countries around the world. The proposals and experience in other countries contain some elements of the British proposals, however, the 'open access' element that features strongly in the British proposals has never been experienced on any significant scale elsewhere. In conclusion, experience elsewhere may shed light on the likely outcome of some aspects of the British proposals, but other aspects such as 'open access' and vertical separation are still unknowns

Railway reform in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies

In May 1992, the World Bank hosted a Railway Rountable in Vienna, Austria, attended by transport ministers, advisors, and senior railway staff from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The Roundtable reviewed recent trends in the railways'roles in these countries and identified appropriate actions to address emerging transport issues in the CEE region. The Bank prepared this strategy paper based on the discussions and the apparent widespread consensus that emerged at the Rountable. The financial situation of the CEE railways is beginning to deteriorate rapidly, and the CEE railways are not well positioned to provide good, reliable service to their increasingly market-driven customers. These countries are thus under increasing pressure to restructure their railways to relieve financial pressures and meet future needs. Railways in market economies have faced a steadily declining role in the transport market, and have typically dealt with emerging problems by tinkering at the margin - for example, by debt write-offs - and thus delaying attacking their underlying structural problems. Many of these governments have come to the conclusion that drastic surgeryis required - as illustrated by the British, German, and Japanese railways. The agenda for change that emerged from this Roundtable emphasized developing a strategic plan for restructuring the railway. This plan should define the market; project the level of activity (tons, ton-kilometers and freight tariffs, passenger-kilometers and passenger fares) for all business activities; include a five-year financial plan for the different lines of railway business (to make options concrete); and define all government policies and changes that would put the railway on a level playing field with competing modes of transportation. One item on the agenda for change is to convert the current railway enterprise operating under normal commercial law. The board of directors should include representatives from government, the railway executive and high-level business or public representatives from outside of government. Formation of JSC or independent enterprise does not necessarily imply privatization of the railway because the underlying assets may well remain in public hands. The objective is to change the enterprises'authority and enhance their commercial orientation. The other item on the agenda for change is to have the explicit mission of the railway be to operate freight and intercity passenger services on a commercial basis, with revenues from services covering all costs, including a return on investment. Social services such as urban passengers, should be identified and supported by the appropriate governmental agencies.Environmental Economics&Policies,Roads&Highways,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Railways Transport,Banks&Banking Reform

A Study of Innovation Networks Management in the Rail Industry: A case study of the Overseas Technical Certification Process in the Korean Rail Industry

The project of supporting standard certification acquisition is part of the activities for sustainable growth. In many countries, the market for technology certificate tests is gradually expanding in its role and size. Therefore, many countries have been working on policies and activities to support their testing and certification institutions. This study explores ways to effectively support technology certification tests by developing and applying efficient networks and communication systems and management of technical tests of SMEs in Korea. Additionally, this study also seeks ways of strengthening the competitiveness of the international certification markets by establishing and developing a system for capacity building the Korean certification industry. To do this, I studied overseas technical certification test cases of a Korean SME. Throughout this literature review, I identify the importance of the network and the opinions of various scholars on the communication and knowledge transfer needed for the use of networks. Moreover, I explore various theories on the transfer of technical knowledge and the active use of users and the MLP framework that would enable network description. I also found that despite the importance of the technology certification industry, there is a limitation on the research of this area. Therefore, by studying the Korean Testing Laboratory test cases, a part of the insufficient research could be filled. Each test is conducted through technical testing agencies in France and Germany to determine what level a company’s technology has reached against the European technical standards. For this purpose, the network between the related organisations is analysed based on the Multi-Level Perspective Framework. Then the activities of the Korean Testing Laboratory for communication, technical knowledge and information exchange are analysed. The establishment and use of communication and knowledge exchange systems used during the test processes are studied to carry this out. In a technical certification test, the study finds that a collaborative network of various participants acts at the regime-level across almost all areas, such as science, technology, culture, politics, society and economic markets; this is novel and very important in practice. Furthermore, it can be confirmed that communication and knowledge exchange activities, organisational culture and capability of the organisation play a more significant role than external environmental factors. By confirming this, the study aims to shed light on the Korean Testing Laboratory’s role and its importance as the leading participant in the technology certification industry, both domestically and internationally

Winners and losers in transition : returns to education, experience, and gender in Slovenia

The authors identify winners and losers in Slovenia's economic transition by tracing changes in returns to education, experience, and gender and changes in wage inequality from 1987 to 1991. They find the following. Relative wages and employment rose for the most educated and fell for the least educated, in all industries. Relative wages and employment rose with years of work experience until pensionable age. At pensionable age, relative wages increased very rapidly and relative employment was greatly reduced. Using pension policies to encourage early retirement drastically reduced the supply of very experienced workers. Either the policy caused firms to bid up wages for workers of pensionable age to keep them from retiring, or it caused a selection process in which only the highest-paid workers remained in the workforce. Regardless, the pension policy has proved to be costly, and early retirements did not make room forthe youngest workers but for those just under pensionable age. Women gained relative to men in both wages and employment primarily because they occupy education and industry groups less adversely affected by the transition, not because of economywide reductions in discrimination against women. Increasing returns to education and experience contributed to wage inequality, but the variance in wages also increased for individuals with identical skills. Big changes in relative wages should signal future reallocation of labor toward more productive, higher-paying sectors. Setting minimum wages, fixing ranges of pay, and indexing wages to inflation did not prevent increases in wage variation from occuring. Wage minimums did not appear to have an effect, presumably because inflation reduced real minimum wages so quickly that most workers were paid above the minimums. In Slovenia, policy changes are reflected in labor market outcomes. Disabling the tax-transfer policy from relatively profitable to relatively unprofitable firms and eliminating worker referendums on wage scales removed mechanisms that tended to compress wage variation. Greater demand for skilled workers also reflected both the economywide need to cope with uncertainty and such industry-specific factors as reduced labor demand, especially in less skill-intensive industries. The results in Slovenia contrast sharply with those in eastern Germany. Eastern German workers have had decreasing returns to education and experience. But it is not clear how relevant the eastern German experience is to other transitional economies because of western Germany's efforts to alleviate problems. More similar to the authors'findings are the results of Flanagan (1993) on the Czech Republic, which show increasing returns to education but decreasing returns to experience. In some respects, Slovenia is atypical because it is richer and more western in orientation than other transitional economies. However, economies could learn from the experience in Slovenia because Slovenia also had social ownership, full employment coupled with substantial hidden unemployment, and an egalitarian wage structure. And Slovenia has introduced labor market reform and experienced social dislocations similar to those in other transitional European economies.Municipal Financial Management,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Firm dynamics in East Germany: first empirical results

In this paper, we report results of an ongoing empirical analysis of firm dynamics in East Germany. After discussing specifics of a newly available data set with information on more than 100.000 firms, we analyze patterns of business starts and failures. Furthermore, we present preliminary results on employment, revenue and labor productivity growth in East German firms. They suggest that large East German enterprises are characterized by significant labor shedding and small or no nominal revenue growth, resulting in an apparently impressive gain in labor productivity. Small firms turn out to be the carriers of employment growth. On average, they experience the highest revenue growth rates. However, the combination of revenue and employment growth yields labor productivity increases well below those of larger firms. --

Options for reshaping the railway

In many countries the mismatch between what the railways offer and what the customers want has caused significant economic inefficiency and severe financial strains for the railways and their government owners. The concept of the railway as a monolithic entity is so strong in many countries as to be a roadblock against reshaping the railway. The authors explore four options which can be used to reshape the railways. First is the lines of business option which improves accountability and responsiveness to markets. The second is the competitive access option which introduces intramodal competition in selected markets, while maintaining unitary control over most railway operations. The third is the"wholesaler"option which would accomplish an excellent marketing job, but the actual operation would remain in monolithic hands. Finally there is the"toll rail enterprise"option which comes closest to reflecting a theoretical model of marketing effectiveness, however it would generate potential operating conflicts and higher transaction costs. The authors show that one generalization holds true in all circumstances: a monolithic railway does not function well in a market economy in competition with privately owned, properly regulated competitors - especially trucking. The authors point out that solutions will vary, but the universal objective as an economy becomes more market driven is to make the railway more market sensitive.Railways Transport,Roads&Highways,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,ICT Policy and Strategies

Emotionality and fact orientation in environmental activism: A comparative content analysis of the communication of Fridays for Future and the Last Generation on Instagram

The increasing threat of climate change is particularly characterized in public discourse in Germany by the environmental activism of Fridays For Future and Letzte Generation (trans-lated: Last Generation). Both environmental movements mobilize by communicating the causes of problems, approaches to solutions and possible ways to motivate people. Although emotionalized and fact-oriented communication suggests a significant influence on this, the topic has not yet been researched. A comparative content analysis of 283 image and video posts from both climate protest movements on Instagram from 2023 revealed the predominant role of anger, determination, despair and regret in the diagnostic and prognostic attribution of both movements. Determination, hope and gratitude could be identified in the motivational function of the communication of both activist groups. While Letzte Generation often makes negative emotional statements, Fridays For Future is characterized by a more positive emotionality. Particularly with regard to the attribution of problems, both movements consistently refer to facts, whereby Letzte Generation in particular explicitly refers to sources. The work provides insights into the role of emotionality and fact orientation in a comparison of the two currently most relevant German climate protest movements. It thus offers a starting point for further research into the mobilization communication of environmental movements