Governance of the clean energy sector in Kazakhstan:impediments to investment

This paper aims to identify the impediments to the development of the renewable energy sector in Kazakhstan through the lens of governance by drawing on the definition of governance as the execution of policy. The paper investigates the execution of the nation’s policy on renewables by looking into the investment process, and provides an assessment of governance quality based on the interplay between state capacity and bureaucratic autonomy.Critical impediments to investment in renewables include the multiplicity of provisions and agencies involved; the unstructured and ineffectual relations between renewable energy producers and operators; the ineffectual governance structures and mechanisms; the inconsistent development of the legal and regulatory framework; and the uncertainty regarding the resolution of legal disputes. Assessment of each of these indicates a very high degree of bureaucratic autonomy and limited state capacity, which, complemented by continuous dominance of the oil and gas sector, significantly impedes the government’s attempts to expand the renewable energy sector. As reliance on oil and oil revenue continues, in the long term the nation’s energy security is jeopardised. The paper contributes to knowledge by enhancing the understanding of governance of the renewables sector and providing insights into ways to facilitate investment

Private Observation, Tacit Collusion and Collusion with Communication

The paper studies the role of communication in facilitating collusion. The situation of infinitely repeated Cournot competition in the presence of antitrust enforcement is considered. Firms observe only their own production levels and a common market price. The price is assumed to have a stochastic component, so that a low price may signal either deviations from collusive output levels or a 'downward' demand shock. The firms choose between tacit collusion and collusion with communication. Communication implies that the firms meet and exchange information about past outputs and is assumed to be the only legal proof of cartel behavior. The antitrust enforcement takes the form of an exogenous probability to detect the meetings, in which case the firms are sued for cartel behavior and pay a fine. Tacit collusion is assumed to provide no grounds for the legal action but involves inefficiencies due to the lack of complete information about individual output levels. It is shown that there exists a range of discount factors where collusion with communication constitutes the most profitable collusive strategy

Private Observation, Tacit Collusion and Collusion with Communication

The paper studies the role of communication in facilitating collusion. The situation of infinitely repeated Cournot competition in the presence of antitrust enforcement is considered. Firms observe only their own production levels and a common market price. The price is assumed to have a stochastic component, so that a low price may signal either deviations from collusive output levels or a 'downward' demand shock. The firms choose between tacit collusion and collusion with communication. Communication implies that the firms meet and exchange information about past outputs and is assumed to be the only legal proof of cartel behavior. The antitrust enforcement takes the form of an exogenous probability to detect the meetings, in which case the firms are sued for cartel behavior and pay a fine. Tacit collusion is assumed to provide no grounds for the legal action but involves inefficiencies due to the lack of complete information about individual output levels. It is shown that there exists a range of discount factors where collusion with communication constitutes the most profitable collusive strategy.Collusion; Communication; Private Information

Conceptualising public-private partnerships:a critical appraisal of approaches to meanings and forms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to survey various meanings attached to a public-private partnership (PPP) and related aspects in Western literature, and identify commonalities and differences between them. Additionally, the article intends to critically assess conflicting and overlapping views on contractual and institutional PPPs, their forms and models, and draw insights for transitional economies. Design/methodology/approach – The article contrasts and compares views on PPP meanings, forms and models within Western PPP literature, and also draws comparisons with understanding of partnership aspects in the Russian language sources. The paper examines theories underpinning PPPs, builds connections to PPP advantages and drawbacks, and provides critical assessment of net benefits that PPPs may bring along to the society. Findings – The article concludes that future PPP research in transitional countries such as Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly in the area of organisational and power arrangements in partnerships, may delineate new concepts such as government as a guarantor of a PPP project, social significance of a PPP project, and risk management in a country’s contextual environment. Practical implications – In transitional countries, in which PPPs are in their infancy, clarification of theoretical positions, and identification of commonalities and differences between meanings attached to the PPP terminology may enable better decisions by researchers and practitioners in their selection and further development of partnerships and related concepts. Originality/value – Research in the field of PPPs in transitional countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan is in its infancy. The paper intends to contribute to the body of knowledge about PPPs by providing detailed account and categorisation of their principal meanings, forms, models, underpinning theories, and drawing insights for future research in transitional countries

Public–private partnerships in Kazakhstan and Russia: the interplay between social value, entrepreneurship and sustainability

Although public-private partnerships (PPPs) are new in Kazakhstan and Russia, governments are actively pursuing PPP deployment in transportation, urban infrastructure and the social sector. To bridge the conceptual gap between PPPs' low value for money and efforts aimed at extensive partnership implementation, the government needs to promote PPP social value. It includes creation of competitive and sustainable entrepreneurial environment that serves PPP supply chain, smaller government sector's scope and greater environmental sustainability. The chapter investigates why and how PPPs are associated with these elements of social value. Due to its long-term significance to society, the PPP capacity to create social value outweighs PPP costs and provides strong justification for accelerated PPP development by advancing sustainable entrepreneurship

“Rules of engagement”: how experiential learning facilitates the formation of a public-private partnership in Russia

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent one can apply experiential learning theory (ELT) to the public-private partnership (PPP) setting in Russia and to draw insights regarding the learning cycle ' s nature. Additionally, the paper assesses whether the PPP case confirms Kolb ' s ELT. Design/methodology/approach: – The case study draws upon primary data which the authors collected by interviewing informants including a PPP operator ' s managers, lawyers from Russian law firms and an expert from the National PPP Centre. The authors accomplished data source triangulation in order to ensure a high degree of research validity. Findings: – Experiential learning has resulted in a successful and a relatively fast PPP project launch without the concessionary framework. The lessons learned include the need for effective stakeholder engagement; avoiding being stuck in bureaucracy such as collaboration with Federal Ministries and anti-trust agency; avoiding application for government funding as the approval process is tangled and lengthy; attracting strategic private investors; shaping positive public perception of a PPP project; and making continuous efforts in order to effectively mitigate the public acceptance risk. Originality/value: – The paper contributes to ELT by incorporating the impact of social environment in the learning model. Additionally, the paper tests the applicability of ELT to learning in the complex organisational setting, i.e., a PPP

Legal and regulatory barriers to effective public-private partnership governance in Kazakhstan

Purpose: The article aims to provide a critical assessment of legal and regulatory impediments to effective governance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Kazakhstan.Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative study develops propositions from the PPP literature and then tests them against findings from in-depth interviews. Interviewees have been selected by a purposeful sampling from PPP projects in Kazakhstan as well as from national and regional PPP centres.Findings: The identified barriers to effective PPP management include irregularities in the PPP legal framework, such as lack of legal definition of a PPP and controversy with the government guarantee’s legal status for its long-term payments to partnerships; bureaucratic tariff setting for partnership services; non-existent opportunity for private asset ownership; and excessive government regulation of PPP workers' wage rates.Practical implications: The partners' opposing perspectives on a number of PPP issues show that management needs to identify and carefully reconcile stakeholder values in a partnership in order to achieve more effective PPP governance. Practitioners, particularly those in the public agencies, have to be concerned with ways to reduce the government overregulation of the private operators, which is likely to result in greater PPP flexibility in management and, ultimately, higher efficiency in delivering the public services.Originality/value: By elucidating multiple examples of overregulation and PPPs' inefficiency, the article demonstrates that the government dominance in PPP management is conceptually inappropriate. Instead, the government should adopt the concept of co-production and manage its relations with the private sector partner in a collaborative fashion

Conceptualising cosmopolitanism and entrepreneurship through the lens of the three-dimensional theory of power

Purpose – The paper aims to conceptualise cosmopolitanism drivers from the third-level power perspective by drawing on Lukes’ (1974; 2005) theory of power. In addition, the paper aims to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurs’ cosmopolitan dispositions and habitus, i.e. a pattern of an individual’s demeanour, as understood by Bourdieu. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper makes use of Bourdieu’s framework (habitus) by extending it to the urban cosmopolitan environment and linking habitus to the three-dimensional theory of power and, importantly, to the power’s third dimension – preference-shaping. Findings – Once cosmopolitanism is embedded in the urban area’s values, this creates multiple endless rounds of mutual influence (by power holders onto entrepreneurs via political and business elites, and by entrepreneurs onto power holders via the same channels), with mutual benefit. Therefore, mutually beneficial influence that transpires in continuous support of a cosmopolitan city’s environment may be viewed as one of the factors that enhances cosmopolitan cities’ resilience to changes in macroeconomic conditions. Originality/value – The paper offers a theoretical model that enriches the understanding of the power-cosmopolitanism-entrepreneurship link, by emphasising the preference-shaping capacity of power, which leads to the embedment of cosmopolitanism in societal values. As a value shared by political and business elites, cosmopolitanism is also actively promoted by entrepreneurs through their disposition and habitus. This ensures not only their willing compliance with power and the environment, but also their enhancement of favourable business conditions. Entrepreneurs depart from mere acquiescence (to power and its explicit dominance), and instead practice their cosmopolitan influence by active preference-shaping