James Foreman-Peck and Robert Millward
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203599
- eISBN:
- 9780191675881
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203599.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
During the inter-war years Britain resisted the Continental trend towards state ownership. Instead it founded public-interest monopoly corporations or left industry in the hands of private owners and ...
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During the inter-war years Britain resisted the Continental trend towards state ownership. Instead it founded public-interest monopoly corporations or left industry in the hands of private owners and managers. The nationalisation of railways and coal in the aftermath of World War I was considered and rejected as irrelevant. The 1919 Electricity Act was a first attempt to rationalise electricity generation but the Electricity Commissioners were given inadequate powers. The standards also cast light on continuing concerns such as the efficiency advantages of monopoly or competition in ‘natural monopoly’ industries and the costs and benefits of private versus state ownership of industry. They point to the role of incentives, technology, and inherited institutions as more fundamental determinants of economic performance than ownership and competition.Less
During the inter-war years Britain resisted the Continental trend towards state ownership. Instead it founded public-interest monopoly corporations or left industry in the hands of private owners and managers. The nationalisation of railways and coal in the aftermath of World War I was considered and rejected as irrelevant. The 1919 Electricity Act was a first attempt to rationalise electricity generation but the Electricity Commissioners were given inadequate powers. The standards also cast light on continuing concerns such as the efficiency advantages of monopoly or competition in ‘natural monopoly’ industries and the costs and benefits of private versus state ownership of industry. They point to the role of incentives, technology, and inherited institutions as more fundamental determinants of economic performance than ownership and competition.
