The Determinants of Privatization: a Comparative Analysis of Developing Countries

Political Determinants of Privatisation Reforms: A Comparative Analysis in Europe

“…On one hand, several scholars have noted a greater predisposition towards the privatisation of right-wing governments in different contexts: Bortolotti and Pinotti (2003) in 21 industrialised countries over the period of 1977–1999; for the same period, Bortolotti et al (2003) with a sample of 34 developed and developing countries; Bortolotti et al (2001) on a sample of 49 developed and developing countries during 1977–1996; Li and Xu (2002) in highly democratic countries in the 1990s; Belke et al (2007) for 22 OECD countries during 1990–2001. Breen and Doyle (2013) found that left-wing governments tend to resort to privatisation to a lesser extent than the right-wing, using a sample of 77 developing countries over the period of 1988–2008 and Zohlnhöfer et al (2008), Schneider and Häge (2008), Obinger et al (2014) and Schmitt (2013) found a similar result in the OECD context.…”

“…The role of veto players has also been analysed in the privatisation literature, but there is also little agreement. Opper (2004) noted that an increasing number of political veto players impeded progress in privatisation in Central and Eastern transition economies over 1994–2000, and, similarly, Breen and Doyle (2013) found that the number of veto players hampers government action on privatisation in developing countries, but only in the period 2000–2008. Belke et al (2007) noted that EU countries with many veto players are plagued by a status quo bias, which prevents the privatisation issue from being addressed for a longer period of time; but, the results were not significant in the OECD sample.…”

“…Some scholars found that right-wing governments had a greater predisposition to privatise (e.g. Belke et al, 2007; Belloc et al, 2014; Bortolotti et al, 2001, 2003; Bortolotti and Pinotti, 2003, 2008; Breen and Doyle, 2013; Obinger et al, 2014, 2016; Schmitt, 2013; Schneider and Häge, 2008), but this is not corroborated by others (e.g. Fink, 2011, 2019; Opper, 2004; Roberts and Saeed, 2012; Schmitt, 2011).…”

“…Opper, 2004; Zohlnhöfer et al, 2008). Some scholars found negative effects from veto players on privatisation (Breen and Doyle, 2013; Opper, 2004), but others did not find relevant evidence (Belke et al, 2007; Li and Xu, 2002; Roberts and Saeed, 2012). The electoral cycle is also relevant in some studies for explaining privatisation (e.g.…”

“…The electoral cycle is also relevant in some studies for explaining privatisation (e.g. Breen and Doyle, 2013; Opper, 2004) and not relevant in others (Bortolotti et al, 2003).…”