Utility management, ownership and accountability in the 1990s

In the present headlong rush towards privatization of economies all over the world, little is heard about an aspect which tended to dominate discussions from outside the utilities when these were mostly held firmly in public hands in the 1970s: that is, accountability. Yet this aspect of privatization will ultimately be the vital one in so far as the accompanying political surge worldwide towards democratization is concerned. It must not be hidden from sight by the more ‘glamorous’ aspects of privatization, such as competition and regulation, to which it is directly linked. This article attempts to restore the balance by putting some fundamental points on utility accountability into context.