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, G?nter Knieps, David                  Newbery, Martin Paldam, David Parke,r G?rard Pogorel, Friedrich Schneider, Eric van                  Damme, Ingo Vogelsang, Johan Willner

Privatization Experiences in the European Union (CESifo Seminar Series) PDF

The list of books you might like