دانلود رایگان ترجمه مقاله سرمایه گذاری ها در تولید برق و نقش مالی سازی تصمیمات سرمایه گذاری (نشریه امرالد 2017)

سرمایه گذاری ها در تولید برق در بریتانیا از سال 1960 – 2010: نقش حسابداری و مالی سازی تصمیمات سرمایه گذاری

Investments in power generation in Great Britain c.1960-2010: The role of accounting and the financialisation of investment decisions

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the increasing role of financialisation on investment decisions in the power generation industry in Great Britain (GB). Such decisions affect society, and the relative role of financialisation in these macro-levels decisions has not been explored from a historical perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on historical material and interview data. Specifically, we use an approach inspired by institutional sociology drawing on elements of Scott’s (2014) pillars of institutions. Applying concepts stemming from regulative and normative pressures, we explore changes in investments over the analysis period to determine forces which institutionalised practices – such as accounting – into investment in power generation.

Findings – Investments in electricity generation have different levels of public and private participation. However, the common logics that underpin such investment practices provide an important understanding of political-economics and institutional change in the UK. Thus, the heightened use of accounting in investment has been, to some extent, a contributory factor to the power supply problems now faced by the British public.

Originality/value – This paper contributes to prior literature on the effects of financialisation on society, adding power generation/energy supply to the many societal level issues already explored. It also provides brief but unique insights into the changing nature of the role of accounting in an industry sector over an extended timeframe.

1 Introduction

The financialisation of energy policy implies increased use of market mechanisms, with the financial sector and financial actors (such as accountants) playing a critical role in the decision-making process of investments in power generation assets. However, with Great Britain (GB) currently witnessing an investment hiatus, should an essential commodity such as electricity, be subject to values and ideology of this phenomenon? In other words, should investments in power stations be financialised[1]? With the electricity industry struggling to secure investment, this paper challenges the paradigm of neo-liberal economic policy which is supported by financialisation for the energy sector. To be specific, this paper examines the increasing impact of accounting (with those using accounting as the financial actors with financial motive in the financialisation process) on such decisions. We do this by reflecting on historical developments in GBs generation market from circa 1960-2010[2].

Electricity is essential to support business and households, and, thus, so is maintaining a secure production of electricity. In power generation, the importance of investment is unquestioned, as commissioning a power station is a multi-million-pound investment – or billion pound if nuclear is considered. For example, the proposed joint nuclear project of the EDF and CGN companies at the Hinkley Point C plant is estimated at £24.5bn (EDF, 2015), highlighting the significance of financial capital. Investments of such magnitude draw on many fields of expertise, one of them being (management) accounting, where various investment analysis techniques (e.g. net present value [NPV], return on capital employed) are used. However, financing and accounting are not the only concern in power generation investments – location of plants, demand, supply, economic conditions, government policy and market participation also feature, to name a few, which are beyond our scope.

In GB, the capacity of existing power stations determines the ratio between supply and demand, or the capacity margin. There is a present demand for new financing (Warren, 2014) to improve the capacity margin following an investment hiatus from 2006 to 2010, when the Big Six generators[3] did almost no new significant investing. By examining the broader historical background to the present problem and, in particular, the relative influence of financial actors in the investments, we can potentially understand why GB is lacking necessary investment. We can identify how institutional forces may have affected the influence that financial actors have in the investment decision process; e.g. what caused them to change and/or remain stable, or to be more influential in investment decisions? To help identify these forces, we draw on the work of Scott (2014), who identified three pillars underpinning institutions and institutionalised practices – in particular normative and regulative pillars. We can then draw some tentative explanations on the role of financial actors (such as managers and accountants) and their methods in contributing to the present GB energy crisis.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. Section 2 provides and details extant literature on financialisation, institutional sociology (IS) and then some historical and contextual background to the current energy crisis. Section 3 outlines our method, with Section 4 detailing the nature of investment practices in GB’s energy sector for the analysis period. Section 5 completes the paper with some discussion and concluding comments.