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Researchers expect under-reaction in climate policy. However, this might differ depending on the access of different interest groups to a political system. To explore the relationship between entrenched patterns of domestic politics and proportionality of climate policy, we compare two renewables policies which financially support new renewable electricity in the UK. Drawing on the literature on policy styles and related opportunity structures, this article shows that UK political parties have responded to growing public concern and NGO pressure by, at times, trying to out-green one another to win votes. However, powerful industry actors have been influential in shaping UK renewables policies, in particular when political competition about the individual policies has been low. The findings suggest that an over-reaction in terms of exceeding the marginal costs of renewable electricity production is equally likely under conditions of high or low political competition.

The impact of renewables on the energy markets–falling wholesale electricity prices and lower investment stability–are apparently creating a shortage of energy project financing, which in future could lead to power supply shortages. Governments have responded by introducing payments for capacity, alongside payments for energy being sold. The increasing use of capacity mechanisms (CMs) in the EU has created tensions between the European Commission, which encourages cross-country cooperation, and Member States that favour backup solutions such as capacity markets and strategic reserves. We seek to trace the influence of the European Commission on national capacity markets as well as learning between Member States. Focusing on the United Kingdom, France and Poland, the analysis shows that energy security concerns have been given more emphasis than the functioning of markets by Member States. Policy developments have primarily been domestically driven, but the European Commission has managed to impose certain elements, most importantly a uniform methodology to assess future supply security, as well as specific requirements for national capacity markets: interconnectors to neighbouring countries, demand side responses and continuous revision of CMs. Learning from other Member States’ experiences also play a role in policy decisions.

Two and a half decades after Germany initiated the feed-in tariff policy as part of its famed Energiewende, this renewables policy was largely replaced with one based on bidding in competitive rounds. Was this a radical break with the feed-in tradition, or a path-dependent development in a long tradition of technology steering? Were these changes to German renewables policy introduced primarily due to pressures in the European environment, or to conditions in the political or organizational field? Putting considerable pressure on the German government, the EU created a political context that strengthened domestic actors who wanted to change Germany’s renewables policy; however, we find that the key explanation for changes in German renewables policy lies in the highly politicized domestic political field, and the increasingly segmented organizational field. Whereas the new competitive approach marked a radical break with the feed-in tradition, the policy change was the result of a path-dependent process of incremental changes towards greater market-orientation – and the element of technology steering clearly builds on long traditions in the sector.

In this chapter we compare patterns and variations in contemporary marketization within park and road services across England, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The comparison addresses whether distinct variants of marketization has emerged across the four countries. The comparison draws on comparable survey data and is based on statistical tests of country differences. Analytical we draw on a framework which categorizes features of internal and external marketization into pre-, core-, and post-NPM models. Overall, marketization is found to diverge across all four countries while some features converge across different pairs of countries. England is strongly influenced by internal and external post-NPM models, Sweden is influenced to some degree by a mix of pre-, core-, and post-NPM models, Denmark is strongly influenced by core-NPM models and Norway is influenced by core-NPM models in the internal marketization. We conclude that distinct variations of marketization have emerged within each country. In this chapter we compare patterns and variations in contemporary marketization within park and road services across England, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The comparison draws on comparable survey data and is based on statistical tests of country differences. Analytical we draw on a framework which categorizes features of internal and external marketization into pre-, core- and post-NPM models. Overall, marketization is found to diverge across all four countries while some patterns converge across different pairs of countries. England is strongly influenced by internal and external post-NPM models, Sweden is influenced to some degree by a mix of pre-, core- and post-NPM models, Denmark is strongly influenced by core-NPM models and Norway is influenced by core-NPM models in the internal marketization.

This chapter outlines the book’s overall research setting represented by the UK and the three Scandinavian countries and local park and road services, provides a comparative analysis of relatively stable characteristics of the country and service context(s) and discusses the likely importance for the evolution and diffusion of marketization. The comparison highlights the suitability of local park and road services for marketization, the characteristics of national reform trajectories, autonomy, size and territorial structure of local governments, and the supranational regulations’ context represented by the European Union. In comparison, the UK represents a context characterized by substantial larger but less autonomous local governments, early and substantial influx of neoliberal thoughts and status as reform leader. The Scandinavian countries are furthermore characterized by substantial differences in their economic situation and local government size and structure which can be expected to provide very different contexts for marketization.

An early implementer of feed-in tariffs, Germany soon became feed-in champion, continuously resisting pressures – from the European Commission in particular – to adopt a competition-oriented approach. The European Commission never approved of the German feed-in tariff, seeing it as illegal state aid. However, after the good results in deployment of renewables, other countries followed suit and feed-in tariffs became the most popular support scheme for renewables in Europe. Despite this success, the nature of the Energiewende changed. Germany broke with its feed-in tradition two and a half decades later, introducing pilot auctions for solar energy in 2014. In 2016, it moved from a scheme under which every provider of renewable energy was entitled to support to a competition-oriented approach based on auctioning. Drawing on perspectives of historical institutionalism and adopting qualitative methods, we argue that the success of the feed-in tariff in terms of deployment of renewables altered coalitions of interests in Germany. The German government introduced auctioning with a view to controlling cost developments and protecting the conventional energy industries from insolvency. This happened under considerable EU pressures, given the European Commission’s state aid guidelines, which prescribe a competition-oriented approach.

In this chapter, we aim to contribute towards the understanding of how and why municipalities organize local technical services the way they do, focusing on the rise and fall of a municipal enterprise. To understand such a marketization development, we explore the organizational changes within the park sector in Oslo Municipality in the 2000s to the 2010s, pointing out key factors explaining these organizational changes. Oslo established a municipal enterprise in 2005, but abolished this enterprise after four years of operation. The key reason was the politically launched marketization process. The municipal enterprise had considerable operational competence but faced capacity challenges and struggled with professionality and social aspects. Therefore, it was not robust enough to compete on market terms. Eventually, Oslo Municipality merged park and road services to one procurement unit and introduced full-scale contracting out to external entrepreneurs.

The focus in this chapter is on how marketization has developed in Norway during the last 40 years and what organizational changes have occurred in local road and park services. Qualitative evidence and survey data suggest that contracting-out to private entrepreneurs has a long tradition in Norway’s technical service provision, but marketization with its imperatives of competition and performance management goes only two decades back in time in the municipal road and park sectors. Central state authorities having the responsibility for roads have been key in initiating the development through early reforms of service delivery systems by splitting the responsibilities of purchaser and provider. The municipalities have followed suit within the road and park sectors to prepare the basis for competitive tendering. However, in contrast to the general development of marketization in Norway at the state level, many municipalities seem to grapple with the ‘fundamentals’ of marketization.

This chapter provides an overview and discussion of design, materials and methods of the research reported in this book. The research is comparative in its outlook and combines multiple methods and materials. The book’s primary data are based on original country-based surveys and four holistic single case-studies carried out in 2014–2016. The survey data provide insights on the overall organization, management and performance of municipal park and road services across the four countries while the case-studies examine leading experiences with marketization in each country and provide lessons for theory and policy. In addition, the book draws upon several secondary data sources including national statistics, international statistics (OECD) and data and findings from other research publications.

A key driver of reforms such as privatizing and outsourcing services of general interest is the intended increased performance, particularly in terms of economic efficiency. However, such effects remain disputed. In this article we explore how different models of privatization and outsourcing relate to public service objectives in terms of both economic and social aspects. The governance models are differentiated based on how removed the service provider is from the political-decision making processes. Selecting two cases representing different models of privatization and outsourcing – the water sector in England and the public transport sector in Norway – we explore whether the distance between the service provider and political decision-making affects the achievement of public service objectives. To do so, we take key sector differences into consideration when translating public service objectives into indicators. The cases illustrate the relationship between outsourcing, privatization and public service objectives and offer insight to scholars interested in cross-sector comparisons.

Marketisation is commonly understood as a key component in the Nnew Ppublic Mmanagement (NPM) model for public management reform. However, negative experiences, newer reform trends and local circumstances have challenged the NPM and raised the question of whether reforms have entered a post-NPM era. In this chapter, we explore and compare the impact of marketisation on the organisation of local service delivery and address whether newer reform trends in the post-NPM era are transforming contemporary marketisation. Our study takes place in the context of local park and road services across England, Sweden, Denmark and Norway and draws upon original survey data collected from mid-level managers in 2014-16. The chapter concludes that marketisation is widespread but not dominant within our study’s context. It is also being transformed to some extent by newer and different reform trends. In perspective, we find that marketisation is an evolving reform practice, which trajectories depend on local contextual circumstances and adaption of newer reform ideas.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the extent of, rationales for and outcomes of contracting out in the local road and park sectors in Norway. For understanding the use of contracting out in local governments, it highlights the relevance of the capability perspective in organisational literature as an alternative to the standard efficiency perspective.Design/methodology/approach– The paper draws on four expert interviews and survey data gathered from park and road managers in Norwegian municipalities in 2015.Findings– The study suggests that Norwegian municipalities primarily contract out park and road maintenance services when they do not have the capability to perform these services themselves. Cost concerns are also highlighted but of less importance. Moreover, lack of competition renders the use of contracting out as a potentially costly and less satisfying arrangement for organising service delivery.Research limitations/implications– While the scope is limited to one country, Norway, future research may benefit from the theoretical perspectives, which have been used.Practical implications– Policy guidelines should support a flexible use of various arrangements for service provision.Originality/value– The dominating view among proponents of marketisation in the public sector suggests that contracting out to private contractors is undertaken to enhance economic efficiency compared to keeping service production in-house. This study suggests that this is not always the case – even in “most likely” sectors such as park and road maintenance.

The 2011 White Paper on Transport of the European Commission spells out a series of targets for 2030 and 2050. One of the 10 targets is explicitly related to urban transport and stipulates: “Halve the use of ‘conventionally fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030; phase them out in cities by 2050. Achieve essentially CO2-free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030.” With this paper we present and discuss a roadmap that deals with the question who needs to do what by when in order to reach the White Paper goal for urban transport. The “stakeholder-driven” roadmap was developed in the FP7 project TRANSFORuM. The paper will present the key findings and the suggested action steps identified in the roadmap. The paper will also exemplify three possible urban transformation pathways towards the urban target. This approach emerged from stakeholder consultations which highlighted the need to take into account the widely differing conditions among European cities.

Renewable energy plays an important role in the transition to a low emission society, yet in many regions energy projects have resulted in increasing societal polarization. Based on a comprehensive literature review and a survey among stakeholders from specific regions in Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Spain with little prior experience with wind energy, we highlight six categories of factors that shape community acceptance of onshore wind energy development: technical characteristics of wind energy projects, environmental impacts, economic impacts, societal impacts, contextual factors and individual characteristics. We identify key similarities in acceptance-related patterns of wind energy development across the selected regions, but also important differences, highlighting the very context-specific nature of community acceptance. The findings contribute to improving the understanding of the forces, factors and relationships at play between policy frameworks and perceptions of wind energy under different conditions. We conclude by proposing policy recommendations regarding measures to increase the positive impacts and reduce the negative impacts of wind energy projects, and to strengthen existing drivers and reduce barriers to community acceptance of wind energy development.

Organisational perspectives propose that structural arrangements affect policy outcomes. Drawing on these perspectives, it is worthwhile to find out whether and how disagreements among public authorities create barriers to public sector adaptation and preparedness. As the literature on weather vulnerabilities and climate adaptation recommends increased public sector coordination, exploring the possibilities of governance can contribute to the improvement of lifeline conditions. Insights from a Norwegian case study suggest that the different mandates of responsible public authorities sometimes clash. Such clashes limit the abilities to sustain welfare and business conditions when avalanches and blizzards cause highway outages. The findings also show that governance might only partly improve public sector peril response measures, as there is rarely sufficient flexibility to consider specific interests or preferences, for example, to keep a highway open until a school bus or a freight delivery has passed. Silos as barriers to public sector climate adaptation and preparedness: insights from road closures in Norway

There is extensive literature that explains how liberalization policy deepens and widens. In the literature of European integration such reform is commonly considered to be the result of a bias towards liberalization in the treaties, thereby giving the European Commission and the European Court of Justice wide-ranging leverage to enforce such reform. However, such approaches have been criticized for being de-politicized – for failing to understand the conflicts inherent in controversial policies. It is therefore of interest to explore the scope conditions of this constitutional bias assumption in areas where liberalization policy is disputed. This article analyzes the EU decision-making processes across the postal, public transport and port service sectors, highlighting three key conditions, in addition to the treaties' legal foundation. These are: the organization of public services; mobilization by large interests, such as trade unions; and how willing the European Commission is to give in to concessional demands.

After two decades of public sector outsourcing, debates for reintegration of services back into the public sector have emerged. However, so far outsourcing remains prevalent and reintegration is sparsely utilised. An in-depth analysis of the reorganisation of public transport in a Norwegian county, Sor-Trondelag, provides three key reasons as to why there is an ‘outsourcing upside’. Firstly, existing structures limit available alternatives for legislators, thereby making reintegration of public services back into public hands difficult. Secondly, under certain conditions competitive tendering may enhance political steering and thus make outsourcing politically desirable. Thirdly, the establishment of a quasi-autonomous agency allows the opportunity for economies of scale through cooperation with other counties and cities, thereby improving co-ordination in the public transport system.

Despite the generally accepted weakness of trade unions at the European Union level, an analysis of two high profile cases - the Services Directive and the Port Directive - shows that trade unions are able to mobilise effectively at the European level and, within constellations of actors, crucially impact EU decision making. In contrast to common claims that a lack of access to EU institutions makes such groups powerless, it is argued here that the exclusion of large opposing societal groups from consultations is neither a quick nor a sure fire recipe for dismantling opposition.On the contrary,it politicises the process and may lead to opposing groups mobilising in more contentious ways.

An influential argument holds that labour unions are not likely to succeed in their objectives through current European decision-making processes. In addition, the European Union has extensive leverage to introduce negative integration due to asymmetries towards liberalization in the treaties. Given such arguments it is of interest to study a case, where attempts of EU liberalization reform have failed and labour unions claim this is their victory. An in-depth analysis of the decision-making process of the proposal for a Port Directive highlights that labour unions are most influential when they are able to exploit the division of industry interests to resoundingly oppose policy change. Moreover, the analysis highlights the importance of including large societal groups in consultations.

Organisational arrangements with increased autonomy from politicians have become common in public service provision in Western countries. Agency deficiencies have been related to accountability and lack of trust, and a debate on re-municipalisation or re-integration of public services is emerging. In this article, we explore what caused the displacement of a local public transport agency in Norway by re-integrating agency tasks in to the public administration. We find two points are particularly especially important in explaining the displacement of the agency. First, powerful veto players that benefit from change, such as new political coalitions and local bus companies, are one driver for change. Second, weak administrative capacity and lack of competence in the county administration open opportunities for change agents who oppose to existing rules. The study also reflects the importance of seeing trust in an institutional context when studying public administration.

The effects of global climate change include more extreme weather events that harm lifeline infrastructure such as road access. The questionnaire-based study takes a unique natural experiment approach to subjective personal experiences and perceptions of lifeline vulnerability in two seaside communities in Norway that have been sporadically isolated due to avalanches, heavy snowfall, and/or snowdrifts. The enquiry aims at filling a research gap on sudden winter climate-induced disconnections and road travel hazards in advanced societies. The results show that weather-induced road closures lead to worries about road travel and practical problems, but also that many people are able to adjust to reduce their vulnerability. The authors concluded that community characteristics such as available services and social and human capital are important for understanding people’s vulnerabilities, worries, and hazard preparedness. Natural hazard experiences and adaptations: A study of winter climate-induced road closures in Norway

he sharing economy has generated interest among economists for its customer focus and potential to enhance competition. However, it has also caused uproar in industries which have felt competitive pressure, for example among the established stakeholders in the taxi industry. While regulations currently impose considerable costs on the taxi industry, they do not cover virtual transport innovations such as Uber. The lack of a level playing field between taxis and such ‘crowd-taxis’ has generated media attention and conflict. Taxi owners worry about decreasing revenues and taxi drivers about poor working conditions. Other concerns are related to poor transport preparedness, accessibility issues, quality assurance and tax evasion. Despite considerable media attention, there has so far been a lack of scholarly literature addressing the consequences of the sharing economy in the transport sector. Focusing on the Norwegian taxi market, we argue that crowd-taxis will likely produce a range of unanticipated effects, necessitating regulation. For example, crowd-taxis may contribute to a loss of transport preparedness in rural areas. The findings are based on first and secondary data and 19 interviews. Citation & publishing information Taxis and crowd-taxis: sharing as a private activity and public concern

This comparison of the effects of national approaches to encouraging local climate mitigation initiatives in four municipalities in Norway and Sweden suggests that the development of such initiatives depend not only on the comprehensiveness and ambitions of central government efforts, but more crucially on characteristics of the targeted municipalities. We argue that local coalitions of committed individuals forming implementation structures of varying cohesiveness are important for understanding variations in the effects of government programmes on the development of local mitigation initiatives.

In its 2011 Transport Policy White Paper, the European Commission introduced ten targets to be met in order to reach a more competitive and resource efficient transport system. The following dual goal focused on urban transport and commuting: “To halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030; and to phase them out by 2050; and to achieve “essentially CO₂-free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030.” The question driving the research behind this paper is how to realise this dual urban transport goal for 2030, taking into consideration existing trends, available policy options, the diverse interests of stakeholders involved in urban mobility in Europe. The paper draws on data gathered in the EU FP7 TRANSFORuM project, including workshop dialogues with stakeholders representing different interests in and perspectives on urban transport and mobility. The main result is a roadmap that proposes a broad strategy to answer the question “Who has to do what, by when” to achieve the urban transport goal. The roadmap includes detailed proposals for action and milestones at different levels of decision making. This paper will describe the process of consultations and the outcomes of the roadmap process and will also discuss the perspectives for implementation.

Norway and Finland share several commonalities, being Nordic democracies with a population of 5.1 and 5.5 million and large rural areas. With decreasing population in rural areas, given aging and structural changes in society, both countries face challenges in trying to keep the costs of passenger transport services down while ensuring an adequate standard of service nationwide. Grappling with similar issues, experiences and information about different policies in Norway may provide useful information to the Finnish Government. This contribution therefore provides some insights into public transport provision in rural and depopulated areas in Norway, how the public authorities have attempted to solve efficiency issues while maintaining good quality services and related experiences sparsely populated rural areas. It includes aspects concerning the market of transport providers, user needs and political barriers of reform. In both Finland and Norway there are many different authorities that are responsible for the administration, procurement and planning of various passenger transport services. In both countries there are concerns with increasing costs and certain public authorities are interested in using coordination among different organisations in order to exploit potential savings, while retaining an adequate level of public services, also in rural areas. This working document includes references to Denmark, as certain Danish municipalities have coordinated their special transport services to a larger extent than in for example Norway.

First published: 02 January 2014 Despite the generally accepted weakness of trade unions at the European Union level, an analysis of two high profile cases – the Services Directive and the Port Directive – shows that trade unions are able to mobilise effectively at the European level and, within constellations of actors, crucially impact EU decision making. In contrast to common claims that a lack of access to EU institutions makes such groups powerless, it is argued here that the exclusion of large opposing societal groups from consultations is neither a quick nor a sure fire recipe for dismantling opposition. On the contrary, it politicises the process and may lead to opposing groups mobilising in more contentious ways.

Marketization has profoundly reshaped public service delivery but how far has marketization been reshaped by its implementation across different countries? We compare models and features of contemporary marketization across local governments in one trailblazer (England) and three reluctant reform countries (Scandinavia). Within the same service context, local park and road services, the comparison addresses how and why contemporary marketization diverges (or converges). We contribute to the literature on marketization and public sector reforms where few comparative studies have focused on local governments and utilized quantitative survey-based methods. Overall, we find that contemporary marketization is best understood as the many houses of marketization. Our trailblazer is still leading global reform developments by a move from conventional new public management (NPM) models of marketization toward post-NPM models while our (not so) reluctant reformers either have taking a clear lead in the implementation of conventional NPM models or are still characterized by a degree of pre-NPM models.