The long history of privatisation: a short summary

Tony Bovaird

Chapter 3 in Research Handbook on Privatisation, 2025, pp 41-56 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The apparently random pattern in the differing roles of public and private sectors in many economies over time suggests that context and history play important roles in determining the public-private mix, not simply ideology and economic logic. Moreover, the growing importance of economic regulation suggests that privatisation might usefully be researched from the standpoint of “a history of hidden nationalisation”. It seems clear that the state's avowed purpose of achieving a proper balance of power between public and private interests has virtually never been achieved, as neither the privatisation movement across the world in the past 40 years, nor more recent experiments with renationalisation, have unambiguously improved the quality of public services, reduced their cost, or achieved their proclaimed governance principles. If these objectives are truly important, much more radical economic policies appear necessary – and quickly, as many privatisation contracts, traditionally 30 years long, are now coming up for renewal.

Keywords: Privatisation; Renationalisation; Hidden nationalisation; Economic regulation; Public governance; Private finance initiative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035309979
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