2001/06/01 by William L Megginson, William L. Megginson, Jeffry M Netter +1
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Corporate Finance and Governance #State Capitalism and Financial Governance #Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues
paper · doi:10.1257/jel.39.2.321
This study surveys the literature examining the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) We review the history of privatization, the theoretical and empirical evidence on the relative performance of state owned and privately owned firms, the types of privatization, if and by how much privatization has improved the performance of former SOEs in non-transition and transition countries, how investors in privatizations have fared, and the impact of privatization on the development of capital markets and corporate governance. In most settings privatization "works" in that the firms become more efficient, more profitable, and financially healthier, and reward investors.