Globalization, State Restructuring and Innovation in European Water Management Systems: Reflections from England and Wales

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s the notion of 'hollowing out' has been increasingly used within debates about the changing role of the nation-state in the management and regulation of public services. This paper is concerned with the impact of the various processes of hollowing out on innovation actions in the privatized water sector, particularly in terms of the changing drivers for innovation and the reconfiguration of public and private sector roles across Europe. In order to develop a more detailed case study of English water management, we draw on the Innovation Systems literature, regulation theory and globalization debates to locate a shift from a hierarchical and insular national system in England pre-privatization to a more complex and diffuse system after 1989. In common with some of the more sophisticated accounts of hollowing out we demonstrate that the role of the nation-state in shaping innovation decisions has not necessarily diminished, rather it has been reconfigured in response to various social, economic and environmental factors.