Electricity is a basic requirement for a modern economy, and transmission grids at the center of transition to a low-carbon power system. They are the principal means to integrate large shares of wind and solar power and they are essential to ensuring a secure and reliable electricity supply. Grid companies around the world are struggling to find their niche in this transition. The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) is one of the principal players in this round of global competition. Central state-owned enterprise (SOEs), such as SGCC, continue to hold the 'commanding heights' of the Chinese economy. Their relationship with the Party-state is crucial to understanding the questions of whether SOEs take orders from, and do the bidding of, the Chinese Communist Party, and how they operate under the state ownership and with a wide range of operational autonomy and expectation that they are profit-maximazing corporations. This book examines the origin, development and expansion of SGCC, the world's largest utility company and the 7th largest corporation. By telling both the electricity story and the SOE story, it provides insights into the challenges facing the grids and their possible futures. It challenges the orthodox account of Chinese politics that portrays SOEs as little more than puppets, jumping to every demand of the Party-state. It shows that SGCC has been built into a modern corporation by entrepreneurial managers. By extending its operation to four continents, SGCC is now a global player, competing with its peers and also having its input in the future low-carbon electricity system. This book challenges the popular interpretation of Chinese government. Piling detail on detail, it provides a comprehensive picture of Chinese political economy that is both new and utterly convincing.

Sinews of Power: The Politics of the State Grid Corporation of China

Business & Money

Yi-Chong, Xu

Industries

Oxford University Press

International organizations (IOs) matter. This book uncovers the regular working world of IOs, examining whether, to what extent, and how these 'global governing bodies' can act independently of the will of states. This book explores this issue by asking who or what shapes their decisions; how and when decisions are made; how players interact within an IO; and how the interactions vary across IOs. The Working World of International Organizations examines three working groups in the higher echelons of IOs - state representatives, as proxy of states, serving in the Executive Boards or General Councils, chief officers of IOs, and the staff of the permanent secretariat. The book demonstrates that none of them are unified; in each there are contested ideas about strategy and appropriate projects, and analyses their interactions to explain who is able to shape or influence decisions. Six representative IOs are studied to identify the relevant critical determinants that shape the behaviour of players. The volume explores how these players have an impact over three dilemmas that are common to all IOs: priority and agenda setting, financing, and the centralization or decentralization of operations.

The Working World of International Organizations: Authority, Capacity, Legitimacy

Weller, Patrick

Foreign & International Law

This book examines the origin, nature, the portfolio, organizational structure and operation of the seven largest SWFs from the perspective of the holding countries. Uniquely it tackles the issues from the perspectives of those non-OECD countries whose access to funds creates the most concern.

The Political Economy of Sovereign Wealth Funds (International Political Economy Series)

Bahgat, Gawdat

Economics

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

This title was first published in 2002: This study of the Chinese electric power industry examines the ownership and the restructuring of the industry. The reform of the electric power industry is also seen as part of the wider economic development that has been taking place in China, thus providing fresh perspectives on the changes taking place in both the economy and society more generally. Presenting a wealth of extensive research on the subject, the book elucidates the power struggle between political and bureaucratic elite and explains the sensitive and volatile relationship between the central and provincial government against an increasingly complex global background.

Powering China (Routledge Revivals)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Routledge

This book examines the origin, nature, the portfolio, organizational structure and operation of the seven largest SWFs from the perspective of the holding countries. Uniquely it tackles the issues from the perspectives of those non-OECD countries whose access to funds creates the most concern.

International Organizations and Small States: Participation, Legitimacy and Vulnerability

International Organizations (IOs) are vital institutions in world politics in which cross-border issues can be discussed and global problems managed. This path-breaking book shows the efforts that small states have made to participate more fully in IO activities. It draws attention to the challenges created by widened participation in IOs and develops an original model of the dilemmas that both IOs and small states face as the norms of sovereign equality and the right to develop coincide.Drawing on extensive qualitative data, including more than 80 interviews conducted for this book, the authors find that the strategies which both IOs and small states adopt to balance their respective dilemmas can explain both continuity and change in their interactions with institutions ranging from UN agencies to the World Trade Organization.

Corbett, Jack

Policy Press

Politics & Government

Bristol University Press

Examining the electricity industry in China, India, and Russia, Xu (political science, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada) explores the way that local conditions and institutions shape the commitment, direction, and speed of public utility reform in the three countries. He analyzes the World Bank's involvement in economic reforms in developing and transition economies, questioning the validity of the argument that one model for electricity reform will work in all countries. The book will be of interest to academics and students in comparative politics and economics and public policy. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Electricity Reform in China, India and Russia: The World Bank Template and the Politics of Power

Edward Elgar Publishing

Xu (political science, St. Francis Xavier U., Canada; Griffith U., Australia) and Weller (politics and public policy, Griffith U., Australia) explore the workings of the GATT/WTO, focusing on the roles, influence, and impacts of the so-called "GATT operatives" or WTO practitioners, specifically the Secretariat of the GATT/WTO. Using case studies to analyze the workings of Secretariat officials in trade negotiations, the authors contend that, contrary to received opinion, the Secretariat has played an active role in promoting multilateral cooperation. For political scientists and economists, international civil servants, think tanks, NGOs, and government agencies. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The Governance of World Trade: International Civil Servants and the GATT/WTO

International

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Yi-Chong, Xu. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Yi-Chong, Xu

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Yi-Chong, Xu. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Sinews of Power: The Politics of the State Grid Corporation of China

The Working World of International Organizations: Authority, Capacity, Legitimacy

The Political Economy of Sovereign Wealth Funds (International Political Economy Series)

Powering China (Routledge Revivals)

The Political Economy of Sovereign Wealth Funds (International Political Economy Series)

International Organizations and Small States: Participation, Legitimacy and Vulnerability

International Organizations and Small States: Participation, Legitimacy and Vulnerability

Electricity Reform in China, India and Russia: The World Bank Template and the Politics of Power

The Governance of World Trade: International Civil Servants and the GATT/WTO