This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Privatization and Labor Force Restructuring Around the World

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Alberto Chong ()
Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Critics of privatization argue that poor labor force restructuring is a key concern and that governments should establish better retrenchment programs. Using new data from a random sample of 400 companies in the world, we test competing theories about the wisdom of retrenchment programs and their effect on prices paid by buyers and re-hiring policies by private owners after privatization. Our results show that adverse selection plagues retrenchment programs carried out by governments before privatization. Controlling for endogeneity, several labor retrenchment policies yield a negative impact on net privatization prices. In confirmation of the adverse selection argument, various types of voluntary downsizing lead to a higher frequency of re-hiring of the same workers by the new private owners. Compulsory skill-based programs are the only type of program that is marginally associated with higher prices and lower re-hiring rates after privatization, but the political and economic costs of this policy may make it somewhat impractical. A qualified “do not intervene” appears to be the safest bet with respect to labor retrenchment before privatization.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.iadb.org/res/includes/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=WP-485&pub_file_name=pubWP-485.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department in its series RES Working Papers with number 4329.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Feb 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:4329

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 1300 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20577
Phone: 202-623-1000
Email:
Web page: http://www.iadb.org/res
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Luis Daniel Martinez).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Lazear, Edward P, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen, 1990. "Is Unemployment Lower if Unions Bargain over Employment?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 773-87, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 1997. "Privatization in the United States," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(3), pages 447-471, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Rama, Martin & MacIsaac, Donna, 1999. "Earnings and Welfare after Downsizing: Central Bank Employees in Ecuador," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 89-116, January.
  5. MacIsaac, Donna & Rama, Martin, 1997. "Do labor market regulations affect labor earnings in Ecuador?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1717, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. Nicholas Barberis & Maxim Boycko & Andrei Shleifer & Natalia Tsukanova, 1995. "How Does Privatization Work? Evidence from the Russian Shops," NBER Working Papers 5136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Rafael La Porta & Florencio López-De-Silanes, 1999. "The Benefits Of Privatization: Evidence From Mexico," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1193-1242, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Kahn, Charles M, 1985. "Optimal Severance Pay with Incomplete Information," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(3), pages 435-51, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1996. "A Theory of Privatisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 309-19, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Roman Frydman & Cheryl Gray & Marek Hessel & Andrzej Rapaczynski, 1999. "When Does Privatization Work? The Impact Of Private Ownership On Corporate Performance In The Transition Economies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1153-1191, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Rama,Martin G., 1997. "Efficient public sector downsizing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1840, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  12. Haltiwanger, John & Singh, Manisha, 1999. "Cross-Country Evidence on Public Sector Retrenchment," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 23-66, January.
  13. Jeon, Doh-Shin & Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1999. "The Efficient Mechanism for Downsizing the Public Sector," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 67-88, January.
    Other versions:
  14. Freeman, Richard B, 1986. "Unionism Comes to the Public Sector," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 41-86, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Svejnar, Jan & Terrell, Katherine, 1991. "Reducing labor redundancy in state owned enterprises," Policy Research Working Paper Series 792, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  16. Nellis, John & Kikeri, Sunita, 1989. "Public enterprise reform: Privatization and the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 659-672, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Topel, Robert, 1990. "Specific capital and unemployment: Measuring the costs and consequences of job loss," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 181-214, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1994. "Voucher privatization," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 249-266, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Robert E. Hall, 1995. "Lost Jobs," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1995-1), pages 221-274. [Downloadable!]
  21. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  22. Vickers, John & Yarrow, George, 1991. "Economic Perspectives on Privatization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 111-32, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. William L. Megginson & Jeffry M. Netter, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1987. "What Do We Know About Worker Displacement in the U.S.?," NBER Working Papers 2402, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Bhaskar, V & Khan, Mushtaq, 1995. "Privatization and Employment: A Study of the Jute Industry in Bangladesh," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 267-73, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio, 1997. "Determinants of Privatization Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 965-1025, November.
    Other versions:
  28. Bruce C. Fallick, 1995. "A review of the recent empirical literature on displaced workers," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 95-14, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Alberto Chong & Alejandro Riaño, 2006. "Political Environment and Privatization Prices," RES Working Papers 4439, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. Alberto Chong & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes, 2003. "The Truth About Privatization in Latin America," RES Working Papers 3180, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. J. David Brown & John Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2005. "Does Privatization Hurt Workers? Lessons from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," CERT Discussion Papers 0509, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Alberto Chong & Virgilio Galdo, 2003. "La racionalización y los precios de la privatización en el sector de las telecomunicaciones," RES Working Papers 4320, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  5. Alberto Chong & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes, 2004. "Privatization in Mexico," RES Working Papers 4373, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Siddhartha G. Dastidar & Raymond Fisman & Tarun Khanna, 2007. "Testing Limits to Policy Reversal: Evidence from Indian Privatizations," NBER Working Papers 13427, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Jililian, Hossein & Kirkpatrick, Colin & Parker, David, 2003. "Creating the Conditions for International Business Expansion: The Impact of Regulation on Economic Growth in Developing Countries - A Cross-Country Analysis," Development Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 30554, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Alberto Chong & Alejandro Riaño, 2006. "El entorno político y los precios de las privatizaciones," RES Working Papers 4440, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  9. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Estache, Antonio & Zhang, Xinshu, 2003. "Downsizing with Labor Sharing and Collusion," IDEI Working Papers 174, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Alberto Chong & Virgilio Galdo, 2003. "Streamlining and Privatization Prices in the Telecommunications Industry," RES Working Papers 4319, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Andres, Luis & Foster, Vivien & Guasch, Jose Luis, 2006. "The impact of privatization on the performance of the infrastructure sector : the case of electricity distribution in Latin American countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3936, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  12. Virgilio Galdo & Alberto Chong, 2006. "On Foreign Participation and Hiring Patterns After Privatization," RES Working Papers 4441, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  13. Virgilio Galdo & Alberto Chong, 2006. "Sobre la participación extranjera y los patrones de contratación después de la privatización," RES Working Papers 4442, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You too can volunteer for RePEc, for example by encouraging others to use our services.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-19.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.