IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/empiri/v48y2021i3d10.1007_s10663-020-09484-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of privatisation on income inequality: a European analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Noemí Peña-Miguel

    (University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU))

  • Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros

    (University of Salamanca)

Abstract

This study analyses the link between privatisation reforms and income inequality on a sample of 25 European countries between 2003 and 2013. Previous literature has related privatisations with the level of poverty, welfare, and well-being of population, but findings regarding income inequality are scarce, especially in the European context. The empirical results of this study suggest a positive link between both topics, for different indicators of privatisation and inequality. Concretely, findings suggest that income inequality is higher in countries that have resorted to privatisation reforms to a greater extent. Then, social consequences should be considered when evaluating regulatory reform, such as privatisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Noemí Peña-Miguel & Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros, 2021. "Effect of privatisation on income inequality: a European analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 697-716, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:48:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-020-09484-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-020-09484-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10663-020-09484-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10663-020-09484-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1997. "Privatization and efficiency in a differentiated industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1635-1654, December.
    2. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2005. "Regulation And Investment," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(4), pages 791-825, June.
    3. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    4. Bengtsson, Erik & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Capital Shares and Income Inequality: Evidence from the Long Run," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 712-743, September.
    5. Chisari, Omar & Estache, Antonio & Romero, Carlos, 1997. "Winners and losers from utility privatization in Argentina : lessons from a general equilibrium model," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1824, The World Bank.
    6. Nixson, Frederick & Walters, Bernard, 2006. "Privatization, Income Distribution, and Poverty: The Mongolian Experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1557-1579, September.
    7. Schmitt, Carina, 2011. "What Drives the Diffusion of Privatization Policy? Evidence from the Telecommunications Sector," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 95-117, February.
    8. Oliver Tiemann & Jonas Schreyögg, 2012. "Changes in hospital efficiency after privatization," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 310-326, December.
    9. Bacchiocchi, Emanuele & Florio, Massimo & Taveggia, Giulia, 2015. "Asymmetric effects of electricity regulatory reforms in the EU15 and in the New Member States: Empirical evidence from residential prices 1990–2011," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 72-90.
    10. Monteiro, Natalia Pimenta, 2003. "The Impact of Privatisation on Wages: Evidence from the Portugese Banking Industry," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 156, Royal Economic Society.
    11. David McKenzie & Dilip Mookherjee, 2003. "The Distributive Impact of Privatization in Latin America: Evidence from Four Countries," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Spring 20), pages 161-234, January.
    12. Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros & Noemí Peña-Miguel, 2018. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Privatization: An Empirical Analysis for Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 163-183, August.
    13. Jack H. Knott & Gary J. Miller, 2006. "Social welfare, corruption and credibility," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 227-252, June.
    14. Bastianin, Andrea & Castelnovo, Paolo & Florio, Massimo, 2018. "Evaluating regulatory reform of network industries: a survey of empirical models based on categorical proxies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 115-128.
    15. Jean-Marc Fournier & Åsa Johansson, 2016. "The Effect of the Size and the Mix of Public Spending on Growth and Inequality," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1344, OECD Publishing.
    16. Emanuele Bacchiocchi & Massimo Florio, 2008. "Privatisation and aggregate output: testing for macroeconomic transmission channels," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(5), pages 525-545, December.
    17. Bourguignon, Francois & Morrisson, Christian, 1998. "Inequality and development: the role of dualism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 233-257.
    18. Estache, Antonio & Gomez-Lobo, Andres & Leipziger, Danny, 2001. "Utilities Privatization and the Poor: Lessons and Evidence from Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1179-1198, July.
    19. Narjess Boubakri & Jean‐Claude Cosset & Houcem Smaoui, 2009. "Does Privatization Foster Changes In The Quality Of Legal Institutions?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 169-197, June.
    20. Chisari, Omar & Estache, Antonio & Romero, Carlos, 1999. "Winners and Losers from the Privatization and Regulation of Utilities: Lessons from a General Equilibrium Model of Argentina," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 357-378, May.
    21. H. Naci Mocan, 1999. "Structural Unemployment, Cyclical Unemployment, and Income Inequality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 122-134, February.
    22. Bernardo Bortolotti & Paolo Pinotti, 2008. "Delayed privatization," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 331-351, September.
    23. Birdsall, Nancy & Nellis, John, 2003. "Winners and Losers: Assessing the Distributional Impact of Privatization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1617-1633, October.
    24. D'Souza, Juliet & Megginson, William & Nash, Robert, 2005. "Effect of institutional and firm-specific characteristics on post-privatization performance: Evidence from developed countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 747-766, October.
    25. Sjors Overman, 2016. "Great Expectations of Public Service Delegation: A systematic review," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(8), pages 1238-1262, September.
    26. Sonja Opper, 2004. "The Political Economy of Privatization: Empirical Evidence from Transition Economies," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 559-586, November.
    27. Barbara M. Roberts & Muhammad A. Saeed, 2012. "Privatizations around the world: economic or political determinants?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 47-71, March.
    28. Hyland, Marie, 2016. "Restructuring European electricity markets – A panel data analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 33-42.
    29. Ansgar Belke & Frank Baumgärtner & Friedrich Schneider & Ralph Setzer, 2007. "The Different Extent of Privatization Proceeds in OECD Countries: A Preliminary Explanation Using a Public-Choice Approach," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(2), pages 211-243, June.
    30. Zohlnhöfer, Reimut & Engler, Fabian & Dümig, Kathrin, 2018. "The Retreat of the Interventionist State in Advanced Democracies," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 535-562, April.
    31. Megginson, William L. & Morgan, Angela & Nail, Lance, 2004. "The determinants of positive long-term performance in strategic mergers: Corporate focus and cash," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 523-552, March.
    32. Nisreen Salti, 2015. "Income inequality and the composition of public debt," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(5), pages 821-837, October.
    33. Sunita Kikeri, 2004. "An Assessment of Privatization," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 87-118.
    34. Simon Commander & Andrei Tolstopiatenko & Ruslan Yemtsov, 1999. "Channels of redistribution: Inequality and poverty in the Russian transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 411-447, July.
    35. Cullinane, Kevin & Ji, Ping & Wang, Teng-fei, 2005. "The relationship between privatization and DEA estimates of efficiency in the container port industry," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 433-462.
    36. José Antonio Gonzalo & Vicente Pina & Lourdes Torres, 2003. "Objectives, Techniques and valuation of state-owned companies in privatization processes," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 177-196, June.
    37. Barro, Robert J, 2000. "Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 5-32, March.
    38. John Nellis, 2003. "Privatization in Latin America," Working Papers 31, Center for Global Development.
    39. Noemí Peña Miguel & Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros, 2019. "Is privatization related to corruption? An empirical analysis of European countries," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 69-95, January.
    40. Obinger, Herbert & Schmitt, Carina & Traub, Stefan, 2016. "The Political Economy of Privatization in Rich Democracies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199669684.
    41. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    42. Bernardo Bortolotti & Paolo Pinotti, 2003. "The Political Economy of Privatization," Working Papers 2003.45, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    43. Villalonga, Belen, 2000. "Privatization and efficiency: differentiating ownership effects from political, organizational, and dynamic effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 43-74, May.
    44. Polemis, Michael L., 2016. "New evidence on the impact of structural reforms on electricity sector performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 420-431.
    45. Hannu Tanninen, 1999. "Income inequality, government expenditures and growth," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(9), pages 1109-1117.
    46. Bortolotti, Bernardo & Fantini, Marcella & Siniscalco, Domenico, 2001. "Privatisation: politics, institutions, and financial markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 109-137, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros & Noemí Peña-Miguel, 2018. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Privatization: An Empirical Analysis for Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 163-183, August.
    2. Crescioli, Tommaso, 2024. "Reinforcing each other: how the combination of European and domestic reforms increased competition in liberalized industries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123605, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Andrea Bastianin & Paolo Castelnovo & Massimo Florio, 2017. "The Empirics of Regulatory Reforms Proxied by Categorical Variables: Recent Findings and Methodological Issues," ETA: Economic Theory and Applications 257877, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    4. Noemí Peña‐Miguel & Beatriz Cuadrado‐Ballesteros, 2018. "The role of governance in privatisation reforms: A European analysis," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 479-500, November.
    5. Bastianin, Andrea & Castelnovo, Paolo & Florio, Massimo, 2018. "Evaluating regulatory reform of network industries: a survey of empirical models based on categorical proxies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 115-128.
    6. Svejnar, Jan & Hagemejer, Jan & Tyrowicz, Joanna, 2018. "Are Rushed Privatizations Substandard? Analyzing Firm-level Privatization under Fiscal Pressure," CEPR Discussion Papers 12991, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    8. Vivien Foster & José Luis Guasch & Luis Andrés & Thomas Haven, 2008. "The Impact of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure: Lights, Shadows, and the Road Ahead," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 59818, February.
    9. Luis A. Andrés & J. Luis Guasch & Thomas Haven & Vivien Foster, 2008. "The Impact of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure : Lights, Shadows, and the Road Ahead," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6545.
    10. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    11. Schuster, Philipp & Schmitt, Carina & Traub, Stefan, 2013. "The retreat of the state from entrepreneurial activities: A convergence analysis for OECD countries, 1980–2007," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 95-112.
    12. Estrin, Saul & Pelletier, Adeline, 2016. "Privatisation in Developing Countries: What Are the Lessons of Recent Experience?," IZA Discussion Papers 10297, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Estrin, Saul & Pelletier, Adeline, 2018. "Privatization in developing countries: what are the lessons of recent experience?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87348, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Antonio Estache & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2009. "Toward a Theory of Regulation for Developing Countries: Following Jean-Jacques Laffont's Lead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 729-770, September.
    15. Matthew Odedokun & Jeffery I. Round, 2001. "Determinants of Income Inequality and its Effects on Economic Growth: Evidence from African Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-103, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Adams, Samuel & Atsu, Francis, 2015. "Assessing the distributional effects of regulation in developing countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 713-725.
    17. Antonio Rodriguez & Carlyn Ramlogan, 2007. "Corruption, privatisation and the distribution of income in Latin America," Development Research Working Paper Series 09/2007, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    18. del-Río, Belén & Fernández-Sainz, Ana & Martinez de Alegria, Itziar, 2019. "Industrial electricity prices in the European Union following restructuring: A comparative panel-data analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    19. repec:idb:brikps:358 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. D'Souza, Juliet & Megginson, William & Nash, Robert, 2007. "The effects of changes in corporate governance and restructurings on operating performance: Evidence from privatizations," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 157-184.
    21. Imam, M. & Jamasb, T. & Llorca, M. & Llorca, M., 2018. "Power Sector Reform and Corruption: Evidence from Electricity Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1801, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:48:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-020-09484-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.