11Sep 2014
CFP - Liberalisation and the 'hard sectors' of service delivery - IRSPM Conference, Birmingham April-May 2015
06:48 - By Hal Colebatch - Events
Challenges of increasing expectations and austerity have a particularly strong impact on the “hard sectors” of service delivery such as public transport, water and electricity. These sectors entail fixed and extensive infrastructure systems to deliver services (Newbery, 2002). However, the current infrastructure is in dire need of maintenance and investment, as it is reaching the end of its lifespan. At the same time, state funding is being cut, service-quality expectations are rising, and there is a split between a system-overload in urban areas and an over-dimensioned system in rural areas.
Liberalizing the hard sectors has been pursued as a means to address these challenges (Prosser, 2005). Such changes in the governance means lead to key questions of accountability due to marketization, outsourcing and a general decoupling of the operators from politicians. The hard sectors have largely been under-theorized at IRSPM conferences and in related academic literature (Saetren 2005).
RE-INTRODUCING THE 'HARD SECTORS' OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY: IMPLICATIONS FOR GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY (Panel E 105)
2015 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SOCIETY FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT (IRSPM) CONFERENCE (University of Birmingham, 30 March - 1 April 2015)
Deadline for paper proposals: 15 October
Conference link: http://irspm2015.com/index.php/irspm/IRSPM2015
Chairs:
Lisa Hansson, Political Science Department, Linköping University, Sweden
Merethe Leiren, Institute of Transport Economics, Norwegian Centre for Transport Research, Norway
Eva Lieberherr, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
Hence, and given the high salience of these sectors for societal well-being as well as key differences between these sectors that have implications for governance and accountability, we welcome both empirical and theoretical papers addressing the following:
• Governance in action: What governance strategies are developed to cope with the challenges and changing conditions in hard sectors? • Comparison across sectors: What implications do universal service mandates have for liberalization and accountability? • Cross-sector integration: What accountability challenges arise when different hard sectors are integrated or disintegrated? • Outcomes of re-organization: How are profit motives versus common good aspects dealt with when outsourcing?
Panel format:
We invite practitioners from both the public and private sector as well as researchers who conduct work on the hard sectors (e.g., public transport, water and electricity). We strive for fruitful discussions between the participants by having paper presentations, discussant and panel discussions to be facilitated by the chairs.