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Public versus private ownership : the current state of the debate

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Author Info
Shirley, Mary
Walsh, Patrick
Abstract

At the heart of the debate about public versus private ownership lie three questions: 1) Does competition matter more than ownership? 2) Are state enterprises more subject to welfare-reducing interventions by government than private firms are? 3) Do state enterprises suffer more from governance problems than private firms do? Even if the answers to these questions favor private ownership, the question must still be asked: Do distortions in the process of privatization mean that privatized firms perform worse than state enterprises? The author's review found greater ambiguity about the merits of privatization and private ownership in the theoretical literature than in the empirical literature. In most cases, empirical research strongly favors private ownership in competitive markets over a state-owned counterfactual (although construction of the counterfactual is itself a problem). Theory's ambiguity about ownership in monopoly markets seems better justified. Since the choice confronting governments is between state ownership and privatization rather than between privatization and optimality, theory has left a gap that empirical work has tried to fill. Further research is needed.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 2420.

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Date of creation: 31 Aug 2000
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2420

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Keywords: Health Economics&Finance; Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Access to Markets; Markets and Market Access;

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  1. Börner, Kira, 2004. "The Political Economy of Privatization," Discussion Papers in Economics 296, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jan Svejnar & Evzen Kocenda, 2002. "The Effects of Ownership Forms and Concentration on Firm Performance after Large-Scale Privatization," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 471, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jan Svejnar, 2007. "China in Light of the Performance of Central and East European Economies," IZA Discussion Papers 2791, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Cook, Paul, 2002. "Competition Policy, Market Power and Collusion in Developing Countries," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30681, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM). [Downloadable!]
  5. Polona Domadenik & Janez Prašnikar & Jan Svejnar, 2003. "Defensive and Strategic Restructuring of Firms during the Transition to a Market Economy," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 541, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  6. Kocenda, Evzen & Svejnar, Jan, 2003. "Ownership and Firm Performance After Large-Scale Privatization," CEPR Discussion Papers 4143, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. K. Arin & Mehmet Ulubaşoğlu, 2009. "Leviathan resists: the endogenous relationship between privatization and firm performance," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 185-204, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Rasyad A. Parinduri & Yohanes E. Riyanto, 2007. "The effect of Strategic Sale of Banks: Evidence from Indonesia," SCAPE Policy Research Working Paper Series 0709, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics, SCAPE. [Downloadable!]
  9. Clarke, George R.G. & Cull, Robert & Fuchs, Michael, 2007. "Bank privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa : the case of Uganda commercial bank," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4407, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  10. Perotti, Enrico, 2004. "State ownership - a residual role?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3407, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Kira Boerner, 2004. "The Political Economy of Privatization: Why Do Governments Want Reforms?," Working Papers 2004.106, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
  12. Robert Bichsel, 2006. "State-Owned Banks as Competition Enhancers, or the Grand Illusion," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 117-150, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Jan Hanousek & Evžen Ko?enda & Jan Svejnar, 2004. "Ownership, Control and Corporate Performance After Large-Scale Privatization," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-652, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, 2006. "Business groups and their types," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 419-437, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Sabirianova Peter, Klara & Svejnar, Jan & Terrell, Katherine, 2005. "Foreign Investment, Corporate Ownership, and Development: Are Firms in Emerging Markets Catching Up to the World Standard?," IZA Discussion Papers 1457, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  16. Panagiotis Staikouras, 2004. "Structural Reform Policy: Privatisation and Beyond—The Case of Greece," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 373-398, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Jan Svejnar, 2002. "Transition Economies: Performance and Challenges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 3-28, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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