http://hdl.handle.net/1814/1950 2017-07-09T12:43:33Z http://hdl.handle.net/1814/47167 Problems of regulatory reforms in electricity : examples from Turkey FINGER, Matthias; OĞUZ, Fuat; BERT, Nadia; RAZAGHI, Mohamad; KUPFER, David; BOUCHARD, Kathryn This issue of the Network Industries Quarterly looks into the change in the Turkish electricity markets. The regulatory reform in the Turkish electricity markets began in the 1990s. It has culminated with the privatization of distribution of retail companies in the early 2010s. The enactment of the Electricity Market Act in 2001 was a turning point toward a more competitive market environment. However, the evolution of the reform has not gone perfectly. The transformation of the electricity industry had conflicting consequences for the market structure. The tensions between economic and political preferences have become more prevalent. In this respect, the Turkish experience provides additional insights into issues surrounding the process of opening markets to competition. While regulatory reform seems complete in terms of unbundling, tariff policies and the institutionalization of regulatory processes, competition policy issues begin to surface and political interference become more prevalent. In this issue, we look into different aspects of the recent Turkish experience. In the first article, Özbuğday and Alma discuss distribution/retail unbundling in the Turkish electricity markets. The paper draws attention to the increasing issues of competition policy as a result of privatizations in the industry. The second article by Şenerdem and Akkemik brings forward a fundamental issue: the lack of data and the difficulty of constructing social accounting matrices. The authors introduce a social accounting matrix (SAM) with a special emphasis on electricity for the year of 2010. They put first steps forward of developing a general empirical perspective on the nature of electricity markets. The lack of reliable data has become a key issue in understanding the relative success of the reform efforts. Significantly, changes in efficiency are very hard to measure. These difficulties create opportunities for political interventions. The third paper by Oğuz and Göksal addresses recent policy shifts in the Turkish electricity markets. Focusing on the existing distribution tariffs, the paper emphasizes the need to improve the regulatory framework. In the last paper, Benli and Benli look into a major hurdle in the implementation of the regulatory reform; namely, how to deal with illegal use and electricity theft from a legal perspective. By applying the Coase theorem, they argue that electricity theft should be seen as a social problem rather than a contracting issue. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1814/47089 Skilful survivals : irregular migration to the Gulf FARGUES, Philippe; SHAH, Nasra M. The overall objective of this volume is to advance existing knowledge about irregular migration to the Gulf, a subject about which huge research gaps remain. We focus on the role that legislation, policies and practices play in enabling and sustaining irregular, or undocumented, migration. Case studies highlighting these elements are presented on all the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, case studies of six major sending countries are included to better understand the entire pathway of irregular migration from a sending to a Gulf country: these countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. The volume also offers an overview of the conceptual dimensions underlying irregular migration and a framework for providing protection to migrants in an irregular situation. All the chapters contained in this volume are original contributions from scholars with an expertise on Middle Eastern and migration issues. They were prepared for the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration (GLMM) programme’s workshop entitled “The Role of Legislation, Policies, and Practices in Irregular Migration to the Gulf ” held at the University of Cambridge from August 24-27, 2015 in the framework of the Sixth Gulf Research Meeting (GRM) organised by the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC). 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1814/46985 Global governance from regional perspectives : a critical view TRIANDAFYLLIDOU, Anna Global Governance from Regional Perspectives argues that the academic debate on global governance has neglected the combination of power with value constellations/culture. Both input and output legitimacy, for instance, or the exercise of control and influence are inextricably related to culture, worldviews, and values. The book questions theoretically the Western hegemonic and hence 'invisible' definition of governance and related concepts, as well as the Western hegemony over global governance institutions. It looks from the ground up whether, and how, alternative practices, institutions/networks, and concepts/norms of global governance are emerging in relation to emerging powers and regional integration systems. Global Governance from Regional Perspectives starts with a critical reading of global governance from multi-disciplinary views and engages with two important and under-studied aspects, notably how global governance can be measured and what lies behind such measurements , and questions the democratic deficit of global governance. The book provides a series of regional and country perspectives on global governance which engage with a specific example of an institution, process, or issue that is used to highlight why and how the western hegemonic views and practices of global governance are (or not) contested. The book offers a mapping of global governance phenomena in different regions of the world and a critical readings of those. As such this volume is different from all international relations or political science collections on global governance and also opens up a new field of study that has been hitherto neglected in sociological or cultural studies. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1814/46984 The Syrian imbroglio : international and regional strategies GALARIOTIS, Ioannis; IFANTIS, Kostas The civil war in Syria has international repercussions due to the ongoing multi-sided character of the sectarian conflict and the involvement of all major global and regional powers. Despite the unending violence and the perpetuation of the Syrian inferno, little scholarly attention has been given to the intervention of the international community to mediate the war. The basic goal of this ebook is to fill this gap, at least partially, by examining the involvement of major international and regional actors in the Syrian crisis. Toward this end, the strategies and interventions of five states are examined: United States of America, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Lebanon. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z