On privatisation and labour restructuring in India and Sri Lanka.

Electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, railways, and water supply, are often vertically and horizontally integrated state monopolies. This results in weak services, especially in developing and transition economies, and for poor people. Common problems include low productivity, high costs, bad quality, insufficient revenue, and investment shortfalls. Many countries over the past two decades have restructured, privatized and regulated their infrastructure. This report identifies the challenges involved in this massive policy redirection. It also assesses the outcomes of these changes, as well as their distributional consequences for poor households and other disadvantaged groups. It recommends directions for future reforms and research to improve infrastructure performance, identifying pricing policies that strike a balance between economic efficiency and social equity, suggesting rules governing access to bottleneck infrastructure facilities, and proposing ways to increase poor people's access to these crucial services.

'This book is an excellent reference on the state of port reform throughout the Asia-Pacific region. While there have been a number of articles in recent years on port reform in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, much of the Asia-Pacific region has been overlooked. This book not only rectifies this gap by providing much needed insight into the situation in India, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand, while also consolidating the work already completed elsewhere. With the rise of Asia as the world's most important shipping and port market, the editors are to be commended for bringing new voices to the discussion and developing a strong contribution to the port reform and port governance literature.' - Mary R. Brooks, Dalhousie University, Canada

Governance, as defined by the World Bank in its 1992 report, Governance and Development, is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development. The report deemed it is within the Bank's mandate to focus on the following: -the process by which authority is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources -the capacity of governments to design, formulate, and implement policies and discharge functions. Also available: Governance: The World Bank's Experience (ISBN 0-8213-2804-2) Stock No. 12804.

Privatization is under attack. Beginning in the 1980s, thousands of failing state-owned enterprises worldwide have been turned over to the private sector. But public opinion has turned against privatization. A large political backlash has been brewing for some time, infused by accusations of corruption, abuse of market power, and neglect of the poor. What is the real record of privatization and are the criticisms justified? 'Privatization in Latin America' evaluates the empirical evidence on privatization in a region that has witnessed an extensive decline in the state's share of production over the past 20 years. The book is a compilation of recent studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of the record of and accusations against privatization, with important recommendations for the future. Seven countries are investigated: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. This book will be vital to anyone interested in the privatization debate but especially to those involved in civil service reform, corporate governance, economic policy, finance, and anticorruption efforts. 'Privatization is important but controversial. While economists typically favor it, others are skeptical. This book provides strong scientific evidence that privatization has been beneficial for many Latin American countries, although some privatizations failed and some groups in society lost out. As usual, the devil is in the details: how privatization is carried out and what reforms accompany it are crucial to its success. The book is definitely an invaluable contribution to the privatization debate.' --Oliver Hart, Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics, Harvard University