Effects and Goal Achievement of Re-Municipalizations in the Energy Sector

After a period of privatisations, recent empirical studies have shown an increasing number of re-municipalizations (RM) in many countries (Lobina 2015; Hall/Lobina/Terhorst 2013; Wollmann 2014), most prominently within the... [ view full abstract ]

After a period of privatisations, recent empirical studies have shown an increasing number of re-municipalizations (RM) in many countries (Lobina 2015; Hall/Lobina/Terhorst 2013; Wollmann 2014), most prominently within the energy sector (Lobina/Kishimoto/Petitjean 2014; Berlo/Wagner 2013; Libbe 2013). RM mean that the public authority establishes a new state-owned or municipal-owned enterprise (SOE) or substantially increases the public authority’s shares in an existing enterprise (Wollmann 2014; Reichard/Röber 2012). This issue is particularly important due to the large public investments and the consequences for service provision.
In the scientific debate on sustainability, co-production, hybrid collaborative arrangements, austerity management and citizen participation as well as new public governance concepts, RM and their effects are a crucial issue for public administration and public management, both for researchers and policy makers (Lobina 2015; Hall/Lobina/Terhorst 2013; Wollmann 2014; Bruton et al. 2015). In particular, RM are important policy instruments in the policy cycle for the fulfilment of the politically formulated goals on a sustainable energy supply (EU 2006; German Federal Ministry of Economics 2010).
Statements are often made both in scientific literature and in public political debate that RM would provide improvements to prices and ecological targets in comparison to the previous or other institutional arrangements. However, no evidence yet exists to support these beliefs and theoretical expectations. There are contributions that only assess the number of RM in different countries (Bauby/Similie 2015; Lobina/Kishimoto/Petitjean 2014; Wollmann 2014) and show the relevance of the issue. Furthermore, some empirical studies assess the motives and targets of RM (Lobina 2015; Hall/Lobina/Terhorst 2013). However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no empirical studies which consider the effects of RM in the international literature. The missing answers of the (political) claims and assumptions concerning effects of RM are an important research gap.
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess the effects and goal achievements of RM in the ‘energy’ policy field in Germany.
After an overview of the literature the paper uses agency theory to derive the hypotheses. The empirical study l is based on a case study interview-design with five RM and a quantitative analysis (regressions etc.) for 82 RM. The quantitative analysis of the conducted analysis shows that many RM exhibit lower energy prices and a much higher share of renewable energy than the German energy sector on average, but both variables vary considerably between the different RM. Moreover, some statistically significant determinants for the price as well as the perceived effects of RM in the interviews indicate that RM as policy instruments have to be evaluated in a differentiated and case-by-case manner. In addition, the data reveal that the theoretical requirements for accountability are not met in many RM. The paper provides empirical insights for the prevailing scientific debate on forms of service provision as well as for evidence-based policy-making.