Privatization of Public Services

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. Jörg 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).

• 1. Introduction Christoph Hermann and Jörg 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 Jörg Flecker and Christer Thörnqvist 6. Hospitals under Growing Pressure from Marketisation and Privatisation Thorsten Schulten and Nils Böhlke 7. Company Responses to Liberalisation and Privatisation and Consequences for Employment and Working Conditions Jörg 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 Jörg Flecker. Contributors. Notes. Index

‘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 für Wirtschaftssoziologie, Austria