Utility policy and development since Bretton Woods: The role of Multinationals, governments and International Financial Institutions

摘要

Utilities have always required more capital investment with longer maturities than most other economic sectors. The fact that they are meant to reach as many users (people, firms and organizations) as possible implies an extended and ramified network is desirable, first on the local and national levels, but today also at the international level. Moreover, the way utilities are set up is regularly unsettled by new technologies and innovations, which make possible a wider scale and scope of application. These two dimensions - network expansion and improvement - demand a massive volume of investment which creates in turn recurrent instability for three core aspects of utilities: ownership, control and finance.