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The UK's Privatisation Experiment: The Passage of Time Permits a Sober Assessment

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  • David Parker

Abstract

This chapter looks at the UK’s privatisation experiment, which began from the late 1970s. It considers the background to the UK’s privatisations, which industries were privatised and how, and summarises the results of studies of performance changes in privatised companies in the UK. It looks at the relative roles of competition, regulation and ownership changes in determining performance improvement. It concludes by looking at the wider lessons that might be learned from the UK’s privatisation experiment, including the importance of developing competitive markets and, in their absence, effective regulatory regimes.

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  • David Parker, 2004. "The UK's Privatisation Experiment: The Passage of Time Permits a Sober Assessment," CESifo Working Paper Series 1126, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1126
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    Cited by:

    1. Polterovich, V., 2013. "On Control of the Ownership Structure," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 177-182.
    2. Mulatu, Abay & Crafts, Nicholas, 2005. "Efficiency among private railway companies in a weakly regulated system: the case of Britain's railways in 1893-1912," Economic History Working Papers 22552, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    3. Graeme A. Hodge, 2010. "Reviewing Public–Private Partnerships: Some Thoughts on Evaluation," Chapters, in: Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve & Anthony E. Boardman (ed.), International Handbook on Public–Private Partnerships, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Eoin Reeves, 2005. "Book Review - "Selling Out? – Privatisation in Ireland" by Paul Sweeney," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 36(1), pages 77-82.
    5. Tyrone M. Carlin & Cuong Duc Pham, 2009. "From Public To Private: Evidence From a Transitional Economy Setting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 19(3), pages 207-216, September.
    6. David Newbery, 2004. "Privatising Network Industries," CESifo Working Paper Series 1132, CESifo.
    7. Philippe Aghion & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2009. "The Effects of Entry on Incumbent Innovation and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 20-32, February.
    8. Polterovich, Victor, 2012. "Приватизация И Рациональная Структура Собственности. Часть 1. Приватизация: Проблема Эффективности [Privatization and the rational ownership structure. Part 1: privatization: the effeciency problem," MPRA Paper 64371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Crafts, Nicholas & Mills, Terence C. & Mulatu, Abay, 2007. "Total factor productivity growth on Britain's railways, 1852-1912: A reappraisal of the evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 608-634, October.
    10. Nicholas Crafts & Timothy Leunig & Abay Mulatu, 2008. "Were British railway companies well managed in the early twentieth century?1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 61(4), pages 842-866, November.
    11. Hugh van der Mandele & Arjen C. van Witteloostuijn, 2013. "Free to Fail," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15112.
    12. David Coen, 2005. "Managing the Political Life Cycle of Regulation in the UK and German Telecommunication Sectors," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 59-84, March.
    13. Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve & Anthony E. Boardman, 2010. "Introduction: The PPP Phenomenon and its Evaluation," Chapters, in: Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve & Anthony E. Boardman (ed.), International Handbook on Public–Private Partnerships, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Stephane Straub, 2011. "Infrastructure and Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Macro-level Literature," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 683-708.
    15. Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve, 2009. "PPPs: THE PASSAGE OF TIME PERMITS A SOBER REFLECTION," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 33-39, March.
    16. Johan Willner, 2006. "A Mixed Oligopoly Where Private Firms Survive Welfare Maximisation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 235-251, December.
    17. Kate Bayliss & Ben Fine & Mary Robertson, 2016. "The Role of the State in Financialised Systems of Provision: Social Compacting, Social Policy, and Privatisation," Working papers wpaper154, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    18. Polterovich, Victor, 2012. "Приватизация и рациональная структура собственности (Privatizatsiya i ratsional’naya struktura sobstvennosti) [Privatization and the Rational Ownership Structure]," MPRA Paper 41069, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Polterovich (Полтерович), Victor (Виктор), 2012. "Приватизация И Рациональная Структура Собственности. Часть 1. Приватизация: Проблема Эффективности [Privatization and the rational ownership structure. Part 1: privatization: the effeciency problem," MPRA Paper 64145, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    Keywords

    UK; privatisation; competition regulation; privatisation lessons;
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