Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Lessons from Experiences to Date

Privatization became a central element of economic reforms in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1990s. Yet, empirical evidence regarding the impact of privatization remains scarce. Since the seminal work of CAMPBELL-WHITE & BHATIA [1998], covering transactions on the African continent until 1996, no comprehensive assessment has been conducted. At a time when public opposition to further privatization is growing, this paper aims at giving a broad overview of the impact of privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1991 to 2002 in the light of recent developments, and to derive some general trends and conclusions from the body of empirical evidence available to date. During this period, about 2300 privatization transactions have taken place, generating a total sales value estimated at US$ 9 billion. The main findings on the impact of privatization are as follows: first, privatization has had a minimal one-off impact on the budget; second, firm turnover and profitability have generally increased immediately following privatization but the evidence is mixed regarding the sustainability of the initial post-privatization upswing; third, employment has been adversely affected by privatization, although the latter has not resulted in massive layoffs in absolute terms; fourth, FDI and stock markets have played a limited role in privatization transactions despite some showcase transactions; fifth, regulation and competition have often been overlooked in the privatization process, and even where they have been dealt with, enforcement problems have greatly limited their effectiveness; sixth, privatization has created new political patronage opportunities, leading to numerous corruption scandals which have damaged the credibility of the privatization process; finally, social aspects of privatizations have generally been overlooked, reflecting the tendency to focus on privatization transactions, rather than on sector reorganization at large including wider social objectives.Africa, competition, governance, privatization, regulation

EQUILIBRIUM REAL EXCHANGE RATE IN BRAZIL ESTIMATION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

This paper examines the determinants of the real effective exchange rate (REER) in Brazil, from 1994 to 2003. Building on a standard theoretical model and based on the Johansen cointegration estimation, the main finding is that much of the long-run behavior of the REER can be explained by relative productivity differentials, real commodity prices, government expenditures on tradables and non-tradables, trade openness and real interest differentials. On the basis of these fundamentals, the level of misalignment of the Real was found to be surprisingly modest during the Real Plan (1994-1998). As of end 2003, the Real was found to be slightly appreciated with respect to the estimated equilibrium level, although the extent of the misalignment appears to be small as well. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings with regard to trade competitiveness.Brazil, Real Exchange Rate, Trade

Water Crisis and Water Scarcity as Social Constructions. The Case of Water Use in Almeria (Andalusia, Spain)

This article presents our research on a well-documented stylized fact : the social construction of water scarcity. Starting with the hypothesis that the study of water use standards offers a relevant frame of reference to deal with scarcity, this proposai suggests that water use is directly linked with the social representations of water. This analysis is based, on the one hand, on a varied empirical corpus : several field surveys (semi-directive interviews), articles from the local and national press and officiai documents. On the other hand, we develop an institutionalist analysis. We show that the water crisis in the Almeria region is a crisis of water use standards, which as led to the overexploitation of water resources.Water scarcity ; Standards ; Water use ; Institutions

UK households' carbon footprint: a comparison of the association between household characteristics and emissions from home energy, transport and other goods and services

Does the association between household characteristics and household CO2 emissions differ for different areas such as home energy, transport, indirect and total emissions in the UK? Specific types of households might be more likely to have high emissions in some areas than in others and thus be affected differently by climate mitigation policies that target these areas.Using the Living Costs and Food Survey and Expenditure and Food Survey for the years 2006 to 2009, this paper compares how household characteristics like income, household size, rural/urban location and education level differ in their association with home energy, transport, indirect and total emissions. We find that the association between household characteristics and emissions differs considerably across these areas, particularly for income, education, the presence of children, female headed, workless and rural households. We also test the implicit assumption in the literature that the association between household characteristics and CO2 emission is constant across the CO2 emission distribution using quantile regressions and compare results for poor and rich households. The analysis considers policy implications of these findings throughout

Expenditure as proxy for UK household emissions? Comparing three estimation methods

Due to a lack of emissions data at the household level, studies examining the relationship between UK household CO2 emissions and household characteristics currently rely on expenditure surveys to estimate emissions. There are several possible methods available for doing so but so far there is no discussion in the literature about the advantages and disadvantages related to these options. Such a comparison is relevant because studies in this area often draw policy-relevant conclusions.To address this gap, this paper compares three different methods of estimation to discuss two questions: first, is it at all necessary to convert household expenditure into emissions, given that household expenditure and emissions are strongly correlated, and does research that takes this approach add anything to the insights that already exist in the extensive literature on the determinants of household expenditure? Second, if we assume that it is necessary to convert household expenditure into emissions, are more detailed (and time-consuming) methods of doing so superior to less detailed approaches? The analysis is based on expenditure data from the UK Living Costs and Food Survey 2008-9 and its predecessor the Expenditure and Food Survey 2006-7

Exploring the concept of sustainable development through a simulation game

The concept of sustainable development is used in everyday life by the general public, alongside researchers, institutions, and private companies. Nevertheless, its definition is far from being unequivocal. Clarifying the outline of the concept seems necessary. We have created a simulation game to address this goal. Our paper aims at bringing an overview of how the concept of sustainable development has emerged and spread over time, depicting the features of the game, and explaining how fruitful it is to the audience. The game is highly praised by the players as it not only brings them foundational knowledge, but also allows them to enhance many skills. The framework of the game thus contributes to educating about sustainable development as well as educating for sustainable development.simulation game ; sustainable development ; education ; significant learning

The role of values for voluntary reductions of holiday air travel

Recent research has shown that holiday air travel constitutes a typical value-action gap as many people continue to fly despite their concerns about climate change. However, some people do voluntarily reduce their holiday flights. Little is known so far about the role that values play in this decision. This paper examines this question based on semi-structured interviews with participants in local climate change and energy saving projects. It finds that people who voluntarily reduce their holiday air travel are more ready than those who continue to fly to accept that their behaviour makes a contribution to climate change; that they feel a moral imperative to act regardless of its effectiveness in mitigating climate change; and that they distance themselves from socially dominant norms related to holiday air travel. This paper argues that these characteristics are connected to values of self-transcendence and self-direction, and that in this way values remain important for understanding and supporting low carbon behaviour