Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
A. Mitchell, P. Sikka (1993)
Accounting For Change: The Institutions of AccountancyCritical Perspectives on Accounting, 4
Austin Mitchell, A. Puxty (1991)
Accounting for change : proposals for reform of audit and accounting
OFWAT
1994‐95 Report on the Levels of Service of the Water Companies in England and Wales
T. Hopper (1986)
Private Sector Problems Posing as Public Sector Solutions
OFWAT
Report on Company Performance in 1991‐92
P. Vass (1992)
ESTABLISHING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATED INDUSTRIES’ACCOUNTING AND ACCOUNTABILITYFinancial Accountability and Management, 8
J. Froud, C. Haslam, S. Johal, J. Shaoul, K. Williams
Stakeholder economy?
Terry Smith (1996)
Accounting for Growth
A. Dunsire, K. Hartley, D. Parker (1991)
ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS A PERFORMANCE: SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGSPublic Administration, 69
A. Hopwood, S. Burchell, C. Chubb
Value‐added accounting and national economic policy
C.G. Humphrey
Accountable management in the public sector
OFWAT
1994‐95 Report on the Financial Performance and Capital Investment of the Water Companies in England and Wales
OFWAT
1991‐92 Report on Capital Investment and Financial Performance of the Water Companies in England and Wales
S. Ogden (1995)
Transforming frameworks of accountability: The case of water privatizationAccounting Organizations and Society, 20
OFWAT
1994‐95 Report on the Cost of Water Delivered and Sewage Collected
J. Vickers, G. Yarrow (1988)
Privatization: An Economic Analysis
R. Gray, D. Owen, K. Maunders (1987)
Corporate social reporting : accounting and accountability
M. Bishop, J. Kay
Does Privatization Work? Lessons From the UK
P. Edwards, J. Shaoul
Reporting accounting
OFWAT
Issues involved in regulation of privatized water utilities
OFWAT
1990‐91 Current Cost Accounts
J. Shaoul (1998)
BSE: For Services Rendered?
E. Stamp, C. Marley (1970)
Accounting principles and the city code: The case for reform,
J. Davidson (1994)
Privatisation and Employment Relations: The Case of the Water IndustryCapital & Class, 19
ASSC
The Corporate Report
R. Bryer (1994)
Why Marx's Labour Theory is Superior to the Marginalist Theory of Value: The Case from Modern Financial ReportingCritical Perspectives on Accounting, 5
J. Shaoul
Accounting for muddy waters
OFWAT
Future Charges for Water and Sewerage Services
J. Shaoul
The NHS trusts ‐ a capital way of operating
E. Stamp, G. Dean, P. Wolnizer (1980)
Notable Financial Causes Célèbres
W. Hutton (1995)
The State We're In
K. Pinkau (1991)
Annual Report 1990
A. Adcroft, K. Williams, C. Haslam, S. Johal (1994)
Cars: Analysis, History, Cases
A. Adcroft, T. Cutler, C. Haslam, John Williams, K. Williams (1991)
Hanson and ICI: The consequences of financial engineering
HMSO
Better Accounting for the Taxpayers’ Money : Resource Accounting and Budgeting in Government
D. Owen (1995)
Accounting and Accountability
D. Heald, D. Steel
Privatising public enterprises : an analysis of the Government’s case
OFWAT
Profits and Dividends
R. Schofield, J. Shaoul (1997)
Regulating the water industry: swimming against the tide or going through the motions?, 27
J. Ellis, D. Williams
Corporate Strategy and Financial Analysis
I. Griffiths
Creative Accounting: How to Make Your Profits What You Want Them
D. Cooper, T. (Eds) Hopper
Debating Coal Closures
NEDC
The United Kingdom Water Industry
B. Cox (1979)
Value added: An appreciation for the accountant concerned with industry
C. Hurd
Challenging the Figures ‐ a Guide to Company Finance
J. Moore
The success of privatization
P. Russell
Department of Trade and Industry investigations
S. Littlechild
Economic Regulation of Privatized Water Authorities
NAO
Sale of the Water Authorities in England and Wale
A. Berry, T. Capps, D. Cooper, T. Hopper, E.A. Lowe
NCB accounts ‐ a mine of disinformation?
OFWAT
Leakage of Water in England and Wales
K. Williams, C. Haslam, John Williams, S. Johal, A. Adcroft, Robert Willis (1995)
The Crisis of Cost Recovery and the Waste of the Industrialised NationsCompetition & Change, 1
HMSO
Better Accounting for the Taxpayers’ Money. The Government’s Proposals : Resource Accounting and Budgeting in Government
OFWAT
Future levels of demand and supply for water
A.G. Hopwood
Accounting and the pursuit of efficiency
The water industry was one of a number of publicly owned enterprises and assets which were privatized during the 1980s in the UK. The Government justified its privatization programme on a number of grounds. In particular, it claimed that privatization would improve industrial performance by subjecting the nationalized industries to the discipline of the market, and so would yield benefits, via greater efficiency, to the industry, customers and the nation. Examines first the extent to which an accounting model and the financial numbers in the annual reports and accounts can be used to substantiate Government claims, and describe and explain the outcomes. Assesses whether accounting can assume a constructive and emancipatory role, by challenging existing problem diagnosis ‐ public sector inefficiency ‐ and posing alternative questions and solutions. Shows that the financial evidence does not substantiate the Government’s claims. Finds that greater efficiency, meaning lower costs relative to output, did not occur. Significant increases in efficiency had occurred prior to privatization, leaving little room to improve efficiency without jeopardizing levels of service and future service provision. The distribution of the surplus, which is publicly seen as a conflict between consumers and shareholders, is in fact much wider than this. Argues that the surplus has been so distributed that it has not only substantially benefited the shareholders at the expense of other stakeholders, but also has created the conditions whereby the other stakeholders will be disadvantaged in the future. Concludes that the real beneficiaries were largely invisible in the Government’s case for privatization.
Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal – Emerald Publishing
Published: Aug 1, 1997
Keywords: Efficiency; Ethics; Privatization; Public sector; Water industry; United Kingdom
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.