Bureaucrats in business the economics and politics of government ownership

• Corporate Author: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 1995; ©1995
• Series: A World Bank policy research report
• Subjects: Government business enterprises > Developing countries; Government ownership > Developing countries; Industrial efficiency > Developing countries; Socialism > Developing countries; Developing countries > Economic conditions
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Item Description: "Published for the World Bank."
• Physical Description: xix, 346 pages illustrations,some colour 24 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (page 325-340) and index
• ISBN: 0195211065; 9780195211061
• ISSN: 1020-0851

Despite more than a decade of privatization, state-owned enterprises account for nearly as large a share of developing countries' economies today as twenty years ago. Often inefficient government firms and the resulting deficits hinder growth, making it harder for people to escape poverty. Drawing on extensive data and detailed case studies, this report shows students how divestiture and other reforms can improve the economy, and why politics often impedes reform. It also focuses on how successfully reformed countries have overcome such obstacles. The authors analyze three types of company contracts: performance contracts between a government and a public manager, management contracts between a government and the private manager of a government firm, and regulatory contracts between a government and a privatized, regulated monopoly. The authors then study the reasons why so few countries have reformed, and conclude with a final chapter that draws on these findings to present detailed guidance on how to reform state-owned enterprises successfully.