The work of the renowned social scientist and founder of the newer systems theory, Niklas Luhmann, provides a possible explanatory model for the phenomena observed in public utility companies. Luhmann constructs organizations as self-organizing social systems that work out suitable solutions for selected social problems outside themselves and thereby derive their reason for existence.

Successfully processing these social problem statements requires an organized collaboration of different types of expertise. Luhmann further assumes that during the course of new-age development right up to modern society autonomous, social function systems have, to the greatest possible extent, further differentiated themselves into certain particular aspects of social reproduction. In their development, they are solely oriented to their own logic and no longer follow comprehensive steering principles. Amongst other things, Luhmann includes politics, the economy, science, and law in these function systems.

Even though some of these function systems have a central role attributed to them, none of these social sub-systems actually take on a central role, neither politically nor economically. According to Luhmann, the function systems are alternately self-governing and not substitutable. However, there are certain exchange relationships – for example between law and economics, one can identify property and contracts as the trade-offs.