Overview

Experts evaluate the varied outcomes of privatization experiences in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. The trend toward privatization, which began with privatization experiments in the UK under Margaret Thatcher and the deregulation of the telecommunications sector in the United States, has attracted the attention of policymakers over the past two decades. Privatization is broadly supported by most academic economists, but the results of actual privatization efforts seem mixed. In the UK, for example, telecom rates fell sharply after privatization, but privatized rail service was widely perceived to have declined dramatically in quality. In this CESifo volume, international experts examine the experiences of 10 EU countries, evaluating the real outcomes of privatization policies in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.The effects of privatization—which includes not only changes in ownership of public activitiesand entities but also liberalization of markets and deregulation—are difficult to distinguish from the effects of other economywide influences. The studies in this volume meet this methodological challenge by using a well-defined set of criteria, including reducing consumer prices, increasing quantity, and improving quality, by which to make their assessments. Background chapters provide a conceptual framework for considering the issues. Contributors Pablo Arocena, Sean D. Barrett, Ansgar Belke, Michel Berne, Henrik Christoffersen, Andrea Goldstein, Günter Knieps, David Newbery, Martin Paldam, David Parker, Gérard Pogorel, Friedrich Schneider, Eric van Damme, Ingo Vogelsang, Johan Willner

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9780262112963

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Marko Kö thenbü rger is Assistant Professor at the Center for Economic Studies, University of Munich, and Research Director at CESifo. Hans-Werner Sinn is Professor of Economics and Public Finance at the University of Munich and President of the CESIfo Group. Author of Can Germany Be Saved? The Malaise of the World's First Welfare State (MIT Press) and other books, he is former president of the International Institute of Public Finance, and former chairman of the German Economic Association. John Whalley is Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario, Research Associate at NBER, and Coordinator of the Global Economy Group at CESifo.

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