Privatization and economic performance

One of the most enduring legacies of the 1980s has been the programme of privatizations that the Thatcher government set in train in the first half of the decade. Whole sectors of the UK economy which were formerly part of the public sector were sold off to the private sector. Some were bought out by their employees; others were bought by the public at large. Some public services were contracted out to the private sector; others were placed on a more commercial footing.

The UK privatization programme had an influence on economic policy throughout the world. Programmes were also initiated in Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, North America, and, most recently, East and Central Europe.

The purpose of this book, a companion volume to The Regulatory Challenge by the same editors, is to stand back and examine what has been learnt from the extensive programme of privatization that the UK government has completed, and to consider what aspects of privatization remain to be done. It attempts to evaluate systematically the privatizations that have been undertaken in different sectors of the UK economy over the last ten years.

It examines what has happened and why, where the successes and failures have been, what lessons can be learnt for the design of privatization programmes elsewhere, and what the UK government can still usefully do in this area.