A recent study examining privatization results in four Sub-Saharan African countries yielded two broad conclusions: First, privatization is not easy to do, and getting it right can be tough in low-income countries. Second, if privatization is done right and there is a little luck, it can lead to...

This note is based on a World Bank Group database that uses transaction values as a proxy for measuring privatization trends. It includes only the values resulting from the full or partial sale, concession, lease, or initial public offering of existing state owned enterprises or other government...

An update of the World Bank Group's Privatization Database shows that privatization in developing countries continued to pick up in 2004 and 2005, with 400 transactions worth US$90 billion. Apart from 1997, the 2005 result in nominal terms is the highest since 1990 (when the data start)....

After two decades of privatization, has government ownership and control of enterprises declined substantially? A rigorous assessment is difficult in the absence of systematic data on state enterprises. But ongoing research suggests that while privatization has helped reduce the state's role in...

When state-owned enterprises preparing for privatization have very high levels of redundant workers and when social safety nets and redundancy provisions in labor laws are inadequate or lacking, the political and social implications of layoffs mean that the government should be involved in the...