Gray, Conor and Lobina, Emanuele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4774-0308 (2025) Unpacking Fred Lee’s CR-GT-ADR black box: an exercise in the critical realist modelling of water reform in England and Wales. In: 27th Annual Conference of the Association of Heterodox Economics (AHE), 18th - 20th June, 2025, King’s College London, London, UK. (In Press)

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Abstract

Fred Lee’s CR-GT-ADR schema (Critical Realism-Grounded Theory-Abstract Direct Representation) identifies the preconditions for fulfilling the epistemological promise of heterodox or critical realist modelling: real-world relevance through historical grounding, complete representation of the world, and the researcher’s deep engagement with the topic. Building on Lee’s insights, the present paper illustrates an initial exercise in the critical realist modelling of water service reform.

The exercise addresses the urgent challenge of ensuring sustainable water and sewerage development in England and Wales after 35 years of privatisation, against the backdrop of recurrent social, political and economic contestation. Drawing on 25 years of empirical work on water service reform in the global North and South, we build alternative scenarios for the governance and regulation of water services. This, with a view to conducting a world-first systematic comparative analysis of the sustainability of water service reforms in England and Wales, an early case of water privatisation. The primary objectives include:
O1) Forecasting progress towards reducing water poverty, mitigating sewage pollution, and modernising infrastructure under two scenarios:
a) The status quo (characterised by privatisation and independent regulation)
b) A system of public ownership and democratic regulation (informed by international best practice)
O2) Assessing the opportunity costs and benefits of institutional change versus inaction at three future points (2030, 2034, and 2039).

The paper aims to use this exercise to unpack Lee’s CR-GT-ADR black box, particularly as regards the interplay of ontology and ethics and its modelling implications. This is an aspect of the CR-GT-ADR schema that Lee has left relatively undeveloped. To ascertain the implications of the onto-ethical nexus for the design and usage of critical realist modelling, we deploy Tony Lawson’s notion of eudemonic bubbles and explore the emancipatory nature of critical realism.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Critical realist modelling; onto-ethical nexus; sustainable development; water service reform; water poverty; England and Wales
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) Q Science > QA Mathematics T Technology > TC Hydraulic engineering. Ocean engineering
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) Greenwich Business School > School of Business, Operations and Strategy
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	07 May 2025 11:51
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50304

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