Electricity and the role of the state: New Zealand and Uruguay before state-led development (1870-1930)
The configuration of a “modern” production structure requires there to be sufficient energy supply at competitive costs. Since the last third of the nineteenth century, coal production and better natural conditions for generating electric energy at low cost explain – at least partially – the differe...
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| Eará dahkkit: | |
| Materiálatiipa: | article |
| Giella: | eaŋgalasgiella |
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2023
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| Liŋkkat: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/44669 https://doi.org/10.1344/rhiihr.37856 |
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| Čoahkkáigeassu: | The configuration of a “modern” production structure requires there to be sufficient energy supply at competitive costs. Since the last third of the nineteenth century, coal production and better natural conditions for generating electric energy at low cost explain – at least partially – the differences in favour of New Zealand with respect to Uruguay. However, institutional arrangements are another relevant factor of differentiation. Our argument is based on the concept of endogeneity of natural resources, and we use it to prove the different roles of states in electricity systems: state intervention aimed at improving welfare conditions in Uruguay without paying enough attention to aspects related to production conditions; while, in New Zealand, productive development was the focus of public action. As a result, a more extensive and denser electrical network was consolidated in New Zealand which, potentially, would have created better conditions in terms of diversification and rural production. |
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