The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil a Comparative Institutional Analysis
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Labor and Globalization Sarah Elisabeth Schmelzer-Roldán The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil A Comparative Institutional Analysis Rainer Hampp Verlag 07.04.2014 14:35:10 Uhr The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil Labor and Globalization Volume 3 Edited by Christoph Scherrer Sarah Elisabeth Schmelzer-Roldán The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil A Comparative Institutional Analysis Rainer Hampp Verlag München, Mering 2014 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISBN 978-3-86618-394-0 Labor and globalization: ISSN 2196-5382 First published 2014 Zugl.: Dissertation der Universität Kassel, Fachbereich Gesellschaftswissenschaften, Sarah Elisabeth Schmelzer-Roldán, 18.12.2013. Cover Picture: © Rainer Sturm / PIXELIO © 2014 Rainer Hampp Verlag München, Mering Marktplatz 5 86415 Mering, Germany www.Hampp-Verlag.de All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. In case of complaints please contact Rainer Hampp Verlag. In memory of my grandfather − an electrical engineer and the director of a local public electricity company CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. PRIVATISATION PROCESSES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE WORLD ............................................................... 1 1.2. REFLECTIONS ON THE TERM PRIVATISATION ................................................................................................ 5 1.3. PRIVATISATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES IN LATIN AMERICA............................................................ 6 1.4. PRIVATISATION OF ELECTRICITY SERVICES IN LATIN AMERICA ................................................................... 8 1.5. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ..............................................................................................................11 1.6. STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO, AND EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON, PRIVATISATION ...15 2.1. THE ECONOMIC RATIONALE FOR PRIVATISATION........................................................................................15 2.1.1. Agency Theory / Property Rights Theory ...........................................................................................16 2.1.2. Public Choice Theory ..........................................................................................................................17 2.1.3. The Austrian School ............................................................................................................................19 2.2. EMPIRICAL APPROACHES TO PRIVATISATION ..............................................................................................21 2.2.1. Research on the Economic Impact of Privatisation .............................................................................21 2.2.2. Research on the Impact of Privatisation on Employees .................................................................24 2.3. FURTHER THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO PRIVATISATION AND NEOLIBERAL REFORMS .............................37 2.3.1. Historical Institutionalism and Its Application to Neoliberal Reforms in Latin America ...................38 2.3.2. Actor-Centred Approaches to Latin American Privatisation Processes ..............................................40 2.3.3. An Ideational Institutionalist Approach to Neoliberal Reforms in Britain ..........................................41 2.3.4. Industrial Relations, the Sociology of Work and their Application to Neoliberal Reforms in Latin America .........................................................................................................................................................44 2.4. A COMPARATIVE INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO PRIVATISATION IN LATIN AMERICA ................................46 2.5. CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE ...............................................................................................................51 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ............................................................................................52 3.1. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO PRIVATISATION IN ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL.........................................52 3.2. COMPARATIVE METHOD ..............................................................................................................................57 3.2.1. Case Study Selection ...........................................................................................................................57 3.3. TIMEFRAME .................................................................................................................................................59 3.4. RESEARCH CHRONOLOGY ............................................................................................................................60 3.5. DATA ...........................................................................................................................................................60 3.5.1. Secondary Data....................................................................................................................................60 3.5.2. Primary Data .......................................................................................................................................61 CHAPTER 4. PRIVATISATION PROCESSES IN ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL .............................................64 4.1. PRIVATISATION PROCESSES IN LATIN AMERICA ..........................................................................................64 4.1.1. Reasons for Privatisation in Latin America .........................................................................................67 4.2. THE ARGENTINE PRIVATISATION PROCESS OF THE 1990S ...........................................................................69 4.2.1. The Historical, Political, Economic, and Ideational Context of Privatisation in Argentina ................69 4.2.2. Union Responses and Resistance to Privatisation in Argentina during the 1990s ...............................80 4.2.3. The Privatisation of Infrastructure Services in Argentina ...................................................................83 4.2.4. Characteristics of the Argentine Electricity Sector..............................................................................87 4.2.5. The Argentine Electricity Sector Privatisation Process .......................................................................90 4.2.6. Restructuring of Privatised Infrastructure Companies and Electricity Sector Reform ........................95 4.2.7. Privatisation Methods, Prices, and Forms of Payment in Electricity Distribution ..............................98 4.2.8. Corruption and Illegal Processes in the Context of Argentine Privatisation .....................................102 4.2.9. Ownership Structures of Argentine Electricity Distribution Companies ...........................................103 4.3. THE BRAZILIAN PRIVATISATION PROCESS OF THE 1990S ..........................................................................108 4.3.1. The Historical, Political, Economic, and Ideational Contexts of Privatisation in Brazil ...................108 I 4.3.2. Union Responses and Resistance to Privatisation in Brazil during the 1990s ...................................119 4.3.3. The Privatisation of Infrastructure Services in Brazil .......................................................................123 4.3.4. Characteristics of the Brazilian Electricity Sector .............................................................................125 4.3.5. The Privatisation Process of the Brazilian Electricity Sector ............................................................127 4.3.6. Restructuring of Privatised Infrastructure Companies and Electricity Sector Reform ......................132 4.3.7. Privatisation Methods, Prices and Forms of Payment in Electricity Distribution .............................134 4.3.8. Corruption and Illegal Processes in the Context of Brazilian Privatisation .......................................136 4.3.9. Ownership Structures of Brazilian Electricity Distribution Companies ............................................137 4.4. INTERIM CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................................141 CHAPTER 5. REGULATORY CONTEXTS IN ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL—FROM AN ENTREPRENEURIAL TO A REGULATORY STATE.....................................................................................150 5.1 REGULATORY CHANGES IN THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR ...............................................................................150 5.2. THE REGULATORY CONTEXT OF PRIVATISATION IN ARGENTINA ..............................................................154 5.2.1. Legislation which Enabled