Rent Creation and Rent Containment : The Political Economy of Telecommunications in Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey
The evolution of the telecommunications sector is of keen interest from both a development and a political economy perspective. Telecommunications is critical to economic dynamics, to the quality of life, to social service provision, and to citizen...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/753791487315754159/World-development-report-2017-rent-creation-and-rent-containment-the-political-economy-of-telecommunications-in-Mexico-South-Africa-and-Turkey http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26202 |
| Summary: | The evolution of the telecommunications
sector is of keen interest from both a development and a
political economy perspective. Telecommunications is
critical to economic dynamics, to the quality of life, to
social service provision, and to citizen engagement. This
paper explores the political economy of telecommunications
in three middle income countries - Mexico, South Africa, and
Turkey. It undertakes an interpretation of the processes at
work through the lens of these comparative cases. It is also
intended as a case study of a set of broader questions over
the development process, as this is shaped by the central
nexus of relations between business and state actors. The
paper is specifically concerned with the following
questions: how does policy change in real polities, in terms
of both policy design and implementation?; how is this
shaped by the underlying nature of business-state relations,
and to the overall political settlement in a country?; is
there a tendency for economic entrenchment in typical middle
income countries?; by this the authors mean consolidation of
economic activities in ways that support sustained economic
rents, underpinned by various mixes of regulatory capture
and market power. And what countervailing forces are there
to support a more dynamic and competitive equilibrium?; how
is the state understood in the context of these
business-state relations?; how is it useful to deconstruct
the state, and in particular, do checks and balances
institutions have the autonomy to provide a check on
entrenchment?; and how do these processes interact with
technological change? These questions relate to the broader
issue of whether governance arrangements can countervail
unequal political and economic power in ways that foster
inclusive development. |
|---|