The Impact of Privatization: Ownership and Corporate Performance in the United Kingdom

Are resources allocated more efficiently through private ownership than through the public sector? Encouraged by the Government's pro-privatization policies, in place for over a decade, many cities are experimenting with privatization of buildings and services in an attempt to improve efficiency and stave off mounting debt. Obviously, this is a prime time to evaluate theory versus reality.Improve Efficiency By Privatizationis the first text to provide a detailed analysis of the impact of privatization on individual firms. In this unique volume, the experiences of eleven newly privatized companies are examined to evaluate the hypothesis that privatization improves efficiency.

David Parker is Senior Lecturer in Managerial Economics and Co-director of the Research Centre for Industrial Strategy at the University of Birmingham.