We study a reform by which a standardized model of choice and competition was introduced in tax-financed home care in a majority of Swedish municipalities. The market for home care is of particular interest since it is close to the ideal quasi-market. For identification, we exploit the different...

This policy paper offers a synthesis of research on privatisation and its impacts on the utilities sector in different countries. It identifies issues to be considered by policy makers concerned with economic reform, including the implications of sequencing privatisation together with...

Does privatisation increase firm productivity because the private owner's objective is different, or because she is better able to control management? Is privatisation sufficient to improve productivity, or is it only effective in combination with competition? We answer these questions for Great...

A generally accepted view is that sophisticated bankruptcy procedures are required to mitigate coordination failures and fire sale discounts arising from financial distress. In this paper, we study an industry not subject to mandatory bankruptcy procedures; instead, the shipping industry has...

This paper analyses the effects on consumers' welfare of the privatisation policy carried out in the UK since 1979. The approach we follow sees the privatisation of a State owned enterprise within the broader framework of the "policy reform" theory (Drèze and Stern, 1990). By adopting this...

This paper offers a review and discussion of the evidence concerning the underpricing and long run performance of British PIPOs (Privatisation Initial Public Offerings) between 1977-1996, i.e. from the first privatisation under a Labour Government (British Petroleum), until the last ones by a...

This paper analyses the effects on consumers' welfare of the privatisation policy carried out in the UK since 1979. The approach we follow sees the privatisation of a State owned enterprise within the broader framework of the policy reform theory (Dreze and Stern, 1990). By adopting this...

We examine the links between ownership and internal control for a sample of 112 state-owned, privatized, and publicly traded firms in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1994. Privatized firms with at least four years in the private sector, like established publicly traded firms, exhibit a...

The privatisation policy pursued in the UK by Mrs Thatcher's government (1979-1990) and subsequently by Mr Major's government (1990-1997) was the largest experiment in public divestitures among capitalist economies. It had a deep impact on economic policy-making world wide, and was vastly...

This paper examines the determinants of wage pressure in large companies, including ownership characteristics and the impact of regional labour markets. By using a panel of 329 Polish largest firms during the period 1997-2001, we find evidence of rent sharing activities, however there is also...