Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878-2007

摘要

The recent emergence of huge multinational corporations in the electricity sector, such as E.ON, ENEL and EDF, to name just three, represents a fascinating development in the world political economy, as acknowledged by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in its recent publications of the World Investment Report (particularly 2005 and 2008). Today, private or publicly owned utilities based in one country may be partially or wholly responsible for the provision of electricity to individuals living in another. The volume under review, written by three eminent scholars, is thus a timely and ambitious project which seeks to understand the role of international finance in the process of global electrification from a long-term perspective.