Public ownership

Lease-purchase of real estate is a new model of accommodation which is increasingly applied by housing companies in Sweden. The model is based on that the tenant gets the opportunity to either continue to rent or purchase his residence, within a fixed time period for a set option price (Sorling, 2009). This master thesis is a case study about an eventual introduction of lease- purchase which entails conversion from rental apartments to tenant-owned housing for a rental property in Gnesta, which is owned by the public housing company Gnestahem. The background of the case study is that Gnesta municipality wants to investigate the opportunities for future home ownership for households within the municipality with less economic means. Previous studies indicate that conversion of properties can increase social capital between the tenants in a housing area (Klingborg & Werner, 2011). The case study is based on a property valuation of the rental property after an intended pipe renovation with the completion set to year 2021. Three different scenarios with different inflation, yield and discount rates have been measured by using the discounted cash flow method. The options for purchasing the apartments has been compared with the tenants’ opportunities to save money for using as payment in cash for either 15 % or 25 % of the option value. The subscribed future mortgage is measured in relation to age and disposable income for the household. The shareholdership method has also been analysed as an alternative to lease-purchase and conversion.
The conclusion of the results is that an option-time of ten years is preferred since it can be applied upon introducing lease-purchase to give all tenants’ best opportunities to save money, as shown in the appendix 17-19. It is uncertain what amount the total housing costs will be after conversion of the property, since these are based on the economic situation of each household and the current conditions on the real estate market. The tenants can obtain profits in case their apartments are sold, since the tenant bought it at the rental value, not the actual market value.
The most crucial recommendation for future studies are implementation of an analysis about the demand for the tenants in the property regarding conversion. If lease-purchase should be introduced for the property, it is important that Gnestahem has knowledge of which households that can afford and have interest in purchasing their apartments. The information is crucial since it is required that at least 2/3 of the tenants’ desires to make such property conversion.

The United States actually has a long and rich tradition of nationalizing private enterprise, especially during times of economic and social crisis. Importantly, this approach has often been deployed when private companies are hindering national efforts to address a crisis (either through obstruction, incompetence, or incapacity). This history of nationalization, along with other robust government economic interventions, suggests that far from being a non-starter, a public takeover of the fossil fuel industry should be considered an eminently plausible and viable policy option for dealing with the forthcoming climate crisis.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and its relation to institutional ownership (IO) of Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs). Design/methodology/approach – Testing of hypotheses have been conducted by applying multivariate regression techniques utilizing longitudinal data analysis of companies’ annual reports. Two well-established models, the fixed effects model and random effects model are conducted in this paper. Findings – Results which confirmed earlier estimations indicated that there are positive and significant relationships between CSR disclosure (CSRD) and IO. This result suggests that Malaysian PLCs are able to attract and maintain their institutional investors while they engage in social activities. Practical implications – Companies should be encouraged to be involved in CSR activities as one of their strategies in attracting investment as well as to improve their reputation and image. Originality/value – Most studies on CSRD in Malaysia pertain to the analysis of such reporting and motivations of managers towards CSRD. This paper conducts a comprehensive empirical research on the relationship between CSRD and IO in Malaysian PLCs.

An alternative economy is being built that goes beyond globalisation and neoliberalism. It draws on but breaks with previous paradigms and is complex, detailed and practical. It is based in pluralities, governmental and civil society, political and economic, and in its regenerative capacities can appeal across the political spectrum. It is being discussed and implemented by local governments, think tanks, academics, and national political parties. This article asks whether something localised and beyond global capital can avoid parochialism, inequality and the negative effects of competition, stretch to representing the interests of the public as a whole and work at national level. Can its embeddedness across institutions and plural actors protect it from reversal or does its shift to community power and interests and away from neoliberalism mean global capital will undermine it? The paper discusses what the new democratic economy is and how it can be implemented and maintained in the face of opposition.

In the United States, one of the fastest growing areas of municipalisation and local public ownership is high-speed broadband Internet networks. This is due, in part, to the failure of the highly concentrated, corporate-dominated telecommunications sector to provide fast and affordable service in many parts of the country-especially rural areas, smaller towns and cities, and communities with low levels of income and economic development. In the modern, information-driven economy, this has profound implications for economic development, social and economic equality, and ecological sustainability. Just as they did with the critical backbone economic infrastructure of the twentieth century-electric systems, roads and bridges, water and sewer systems, airports, ports, mass transit, and so on-communities across the country are starting to use public ownership to build and operate the digital infrastructure needed in the twenty-first century. Data from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) shows that in the past several years, more than 800 communities (including cities, towns and counties) have established community owned broadband networks. 1 Of these, 500 are publicly owned. 2 Moreover, more than 150 of these communities (in 29 states) have super-fast networks of at least 1 Gbps and 20 communities (in four states) offer 10 Gbps networks, which is hundreds of times faster than the average US Internet connection.

Abstract [ITA]
L’intervento pubblico diretto in economia nella produzione di beni e servizi ha avuto una forte contrazione a partire dagli anni Novanta del ventesimo secolo. Conclusasi l’esperienza del socialismo reale, si aprivano ampi spazi per il libero mercato e la democrazia liberale, non solo all’interno delle ex economie pianificate: anche il settore pubblico delle economie ooccidentali si apprestava ad essere ridimensionato attraverso la privatizzazione dei servizi e liberalizzazione dei vecchi monopoli pubblici. Un cambiamento evidente si è però avuto a partire dalla crisi economica del 2007-2008, quando dopo trent’anni di neoliberismo il ritorno dello Stato in economia si è fatto più pressante. Si pensi ad esempio alla nazionalizzazione da parte del governo britannico di alcune banche, tra cui la Royal Bank of Scotland o la Northern Rock. Il tema è diventato più evidente anche in Italia, ad esempio con la nazionalizzazione di fatto del Monte dei Paschi di Siena o il
ritorno (perlomeno in parte) in mano pubblica di Alitalia. L’obiettivo della tesi è quello di evidenziare le ragioni in favore di un rinnovato ruolo per la proprietà pubblica nelle economie del XXI secolo, sviluppandolo in quattro capitoli. Nel primo si ripercorre per brevi cenni la storia
dell’intervento dello Stato in economia in alcuni Paesi europei, dagli esordi sino alla situazione attuale, dall’ascesa nel secondo dopoguerra alle privatizzazione degli anni Ottanta e Novanta.
Successivamente si evidenziano i cambiamenti intervenuti nella filosofia economica che hanno poi portato all’abbandono dello Stato come strumento di produzione e fornitura diretta di beni e servizi,
e il ruolo avuto dall’Unione Europea nell’accelerare questo processo. Il secondo capitolo è invece di tipo epistemologico e metodologico, e ripercorre le definizioni politico-sociali, economiche e giuridiche dei concetti di nazionalizzazione, socializzazione, proprietà statale e proprietà sociale.
Una tipologia a tre dimensioni tenta poi di sintetizzare le definizioni trattate in precedenza, tenendo in considerazione il tipo di proprietario dei mezzi di produzione (Stato, soci, privati/imprese), i meccanismi di allocazione delle risorse (piano-mercato) e la presenza o assenza di democrazia economica. Successivamente, il terzo capitolo esplicita alcune delle ragioni per un rinnovato intervento pubblico, sia tradizionali (fallimenti del mercato) sia relative a tematiche non strettamente economiche, come il rafforzamento della democrazia o le questioni ambientali. Il quarto capitolo è invece un tentativo di ricerca sul campo: attraverso delle interviste a lavoratori del settore dell’alluminio nel Sulcis-Iglesiente (Sardegna) entrati a lavorare quando il settore era di
proprietà dell’IRI, si cerca di analizzare esperienze passate e atteggiamenti nei confronti della proprietà pubblica, sia “realmente esistente” che ipotetica. Tali interviste evidenziano un certo
interesse nei confronti della proprietà pubblica, assieme però al timore di atteggiamenti clientelari da parte del management. Nelle conclusioni si danno poi alcune indicazioni di policy preliminari, e
delle linee guida per ulteriori ricerche.

Abstract [ENG]
The thesis highlights the rationale for public ownership in the economies of the XXI century. The first chapter lays the history of the State's intervention in the economic field of some European countries, from the beginning to present day. Subsequently, it explains the changes occurred in economic philosophy that led to the abandonment of the State as a tool for production and direct supply of goods and services, and the role played by the European Union in accelerating this process. The second chapter is of epistemological and methodological nature, by tracing the sociopolitical, economic and juridical definitions of the concepts of nationalization, socialization, state ownership and social ownership. A final three-dimensional typology tries to summarize the definitions previously discussed, taking into consideration the type of owner of the means of production (State, partners, individuals / companies), the mechanisms of allocation of resources (plan-market) and presence or absence of economic democracy. The third chapter tries to answer to
the question “why public ownership today?” by showing some of the reasons for a renewed form of public ownership: traditional (market failures) but also related to issues not strictly economic, such as strengthening democracy or environmental issues. The fourth chapter is an attempt of field research: past experiences and present attitudes towards public ownership are analyzed through interviews with workers in the aluminum sector in Sulcis-Iglesiente (Sardinia) entered to work
when the sector was owned by the State Shareholdings system. These interviews evidence a certain degree of interest on public ownership in the economy, while fearing cronyism and corruption from the management. Conclusions then give some preliminary policy indications, and guidelines for further research.

The corporation of today has invaded every department of business and its powerful but invisible hand is felt in almost all the activities of life…the effect of this change upon the American people is radical and rapid. (Robert La Follette, 1897) When the progressive leader Robert La Follette issued his warning about the growing power of corporations more than a century ago, the United States was in the midst of what historians now like to refer to as the "Gilded Age." It was a time when corporate power, organized in the form of Abstract In response to increasing inequality, the rising power of large corporations, climate change, and other challenges, public ownership is back on the agenda in the United States and around the world. In this "new gilded age" there is much to learn from past experiments as we construct a new vision of public ownership for the Twenty-First Century.

Harrison Frye claims that socialist republicanism may be unable to reduce domination due to efficiency costs and accountability deficits imposed by public ownership. I argue that the empirical and theoretical grounds for expecting such a decline in economic efficiency are weak. Moreover, the egalitarian distributive effects of public ownership are likely to be more important for insulating people from domination. So too, workers, consumers, and citizens are not well-protected from domination by the accountability of managers to profit-seeking shareholders. I conclude that the investor-owned firm will do far more to exacerbate dominating power than to constrain it.

This paper investigates how the ownership and the procedure for the selection of rms operating in the local public transport sector a¤ect their productivity. In order to compare di¤erent institutional regimes, we carry out a comparative analysis of 72 companies operating in large European cities. This allows us to consider …rms selected either through competitive tendering or negotiated procedures. The analysis of the data on 77 European …rms over the period 1997-2006 indicates that …rms operate under constant returns to scale. Retrieving the residuals we obtain a measure of total factor productivity, which we regress on …rm and city characteristics. We …nd that when …rms are totally or partially in public hands their productivity is lower. Moreover, … rms selected through competitive tendering display higher total factor productivity.

The present work begins recalling the case law of the CJEU regarding article 345 TFUE, that is the neutrality clause of the EU Law with respect to the systems of property ownership of Member States. After having considered the different interpretations given by the CJEU and Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer of the scope of article 345 TFEU and of its relation with the general principles and the freedoms of Treaties, the paper analyses the Essent case. This decision is important for two main reasons. Primarily, it is the first judgment of the CJEU regarding article 345 TFEU. Secondly, in this case the CJEU declares that a national measure which prohibits the privatisation of strategic enterprises of the energy sector is a restriction of article 63 TFEU, which nevertheless can be justified in the light of the objectives of an act of the EU. In the Essent case the measure adopted by the Dutch legislator was intended to protect fair competition in the electricity and natural gas markets, a goal that indeed corresponds to one of the objectives of the EU third energy package. With this judgment the CJEU settles that Member States can prohibit privatisation of strategic enterprises provided that this interdiction pursues the same targets pursued by the EU. In conclusion, this paper tries to verify whether the systems of property ownership of Member States can be considered as part of the national identities of Member States whose respect by EU Law is set out by article 4 (2) TEU.