This book examines how market contexts shape the opposition of people to public sector reforms, with evidence from the Indian electricity sector. Based on a survey of 7,000 households in 14 Indian states and following a rational choice framework, it analyses the response of households to the prospect of privatization of electricity utilities.



Analysing Social Opposition to Reforms: The Electricity Sector in India discusses the possibility of compensating losers and sequencing reform strategies. It uses empirical evidence from the Indian electricity sector to suggest that much of the opposition can be explained in terms of the (short term) losses due to reforms. The book uses insights gained from Indian data to discuss the likelihood of opposition to reforms in other public services and also to examine the performance of electricity reforms in other Asian countries. It is one of the few empirical studies on how gains and losses affect opposition/support to economic/institutional reforms globally and as such is a valuable contribution to development studies, political economy and governance. The book will be of great interest to development professionals, policy makers and researchers.