‘Symbolic privatisation’: The politics of privatisation in West Germany

Esser, Josef

doi:10.1080/01402388808424709

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…In France in the 1970s, several big steel firms and an aircraft company were taken into public hands (Walters -Monsen 1981). Elsewhere there was a hesitation about privatization: the right-wing state governments in Germany in the 1980s seemed to believe in "state capitalism" and rejected privatization, backed by the heads of corporations concerned (Esser 1989).…”

Section: Open Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamics of state ownership: The decisive role of crises

Voszka

2021

AOecon

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The big waves of change in state ownership in the 20th-century Europe moved in the same direction ‒ either nationalization or privatization. Yet this homogeneity has fallen apart in the last decade: globally and within several countries, the two directions have changed quickly or even have been appearing in parallel. So, it is worth returning to the question: what is the reason for these reversals? Are there any cycles in the extension and contraction of public ownership? Most studies in this field analyse nationalizations and privatizations separately. They examine closely the aims and motivations, but remarkably few focuses on the causes of changes in direction. Based on the lessons of these latter analyses, this paper attempts to interpret the expansion and contraction of public property within an integrated framework, identifying the emergency situations as key factors of fluctuation. The central role of crises in ownership changes is not fundamentally new in the literature. The novelty of the recent approach is the attempt to unfold the mechanism of their impact, including also the explanation why the previously uniform direction of big waves has been broken up after 2008. We argue that the main reason behind the parallel occurrence of large-scale nationalizations and privatizations in this period is the eclipse of a dominant economic-policy (and theoretical) paradigm, rendering the previously firm background of ownership waves uncertain.

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Section: Open Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamics of state ownership: The decisive role of crises

Voszka

2021

AOecon

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“…These very different policy styles impact in different ways on neoliberal reforms. In Germany, although the new FDP/CDU coalition in 1982 seemed set on a neo-liberal reorientation (Esser 1989;Leaman 1994), the consensus-orientation results in a 'policy immobilism' as the government was unable to make radical policy change (Bulmer and Humphreys 1989, 181-183). In France dirigisme clashes with neoliberalism resulting in a resistance to the adoption of neo-liberal reforms.…”

Section: National Institutions Policy Styles and Policy Changementioning

confidence: 99%

When Institutions No Longer Matter: Reform of Telecommunications and Electricity in Germany, France and Britain

Bartle

2002

J. Pub. Pol.

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A BST RA C T Many studies of privatisation and liberalisation in utility industries stress the importance of national institutions for reform. However, powerful transnational forces and cross-national policy convergence in telecommunications have led to a questioning of the role of institutions. Single sector studies are limited in their ability to assess the relative influence of sector-specific technical and economic forces in the policy process. This article presents a cross-sectoral and cross-national analysis of privatisation and liberalisation in telecommunications and electricity in Germany, France and Britain in terms of national institutions, techno-economic forces and ideas. Although institutions shape shorter-term policy responses and the emerging regulatory regimes, in the longer term their role is limited to the pace and timing of policy change rather than its impetus and direction. To understand the latter it is necessary to investigate sources of the key ideas which led to reform. The ideas were not embedded within institutions but originated from outside as a response of interests to techno-economic forces and from groups ideologically predisposed to favouring neo-liberal ideas.

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“…Here there has been much greater state ownership than that of the federal government, but it has been much more closely tied to either direct infrastructural or key productive sectors crucial for the economic health of the region. The most significant sector in regional public hands is the banking industry (Landesbanken), since the relationship between manufacturing and financial capital is a linchpin of Germany's long-term oriented pattern of investment (Allen, 1989;Esser, 1988).…”

Section: Privatization: the Preempted Post-war Optionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After protracted negotiations in the Bundestag in the mid-l980s, only Veba was privatized in any internationally recognized sense of the term. The primary reason for the failure to privatize more concretely owes to the opposition from organized business, the CDU/CSU, and the regional governments, particularly Lower Saxony (Volkswagen), and Bavaria (Lufthansa; Esser, 1988). These sectors were simply too important to the nation's o r region's international competitiveness.…”

Section: Privatization In the Federal Republicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideas, Networks, and Policy Streams: Privatization in Britain and Germany

Zahariadis

Allen

1995

Review of Policy Research

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This article utilizes insights from work on policy networks and John Kingdon's multiple streams approach to examine the evolution of privatization ideas in Great Britain and Germany. It is argued that differently structured networks affect policy innovation. This study elaborates the different types of networks and their impact on ideas, shows how previously adopted solutions channel subsequent debates by privileging some solutions over others, and suggests that policy ideas are associated with particular political coalitions. Copyright 1995 by The Policy Studies Organization.

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‘Symbolic privatisation’: The politics of privatisation in West Germany

Cited by 12 publications

References 1 publication

The dynamics of state ownership: The decisive role of crises

The dynamics of state ownership: The decisive role of crises

When Institutions No Longer Matter: Reform of Telecommunications and Electricity in Germany, France and Britain

Ideas, Networks, and Policy Streams: Privatization in Britain and Germany

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