IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v89y2008i1p78-94.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Political Economy of Privatization in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Adams
  • Berhanu Mengistu

Abstract

Objective. Few studies have examined the determinants of privatization in Sub‐Saharan Africa. This study examined the macroeconomic, political, and institutional factors that drive the privatization process in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Method. We used pooled ordinary least squares regression estimation technique to analyze the determinants of privatization in 22 Sub‐Saharan African countries over a period of 12 years (1991–2002). Results. We found that inflation, income inequality, and the institutional or governance infrastructure are key determinants of privatization in Sub‐Saharan Africa. On the other hand, we did not find democracy and debt to be significantly correlated with privatization. However, countries with high debt levels that were also experiencing high inflation were more likely to privatize. Conclusion. Government leadership and, consequently, politics play a significant role in the privatization decision in Sub‐Saharan African countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Adams & Berhanu Mengistu, 2008. "The Political Economy of Privatization in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(1), pages 78-94, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:89:y:2008:i:1:p:78-94
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00522.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00522.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00522.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arieh Avishur, 2000. "A Positive Theory of Privatization," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 3, pages 1-55, May.
    2. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Meleu, Mathieu, 1999. "A Positive Theory of Privatisation for Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 8(0), pages 30-67, December.
    3. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    4. Paul Cook & Yuichiro Uchida, 2003. "Privatisation and economic growth in developing countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 121-154.
    5. Sonja Opper, 2004. "The Political Economy of Privatization: Empirical Evidence from Transition Economies," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 559-586, November.
    6. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2005. "Governance matters IV : governance indicators for 1996-2004," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3630, The World Bank.
    7. Arieh Avishur, 2000. "A Positive Theory of Privatization," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-55, May.
    8. Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee & Michael C. Munger, 2004. "Move to markets? An empirical analysis of privatization in developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(2), pages 213-240.
    9. Mr. Steven A Barnett, 2000. "Evidenceon the Fiscal and Macroeconomic Impact of Privatization," IMF Working Papers 2000/130, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Drazen, Allan & Grilli, Vittorio, 1993. "The Benefit of Crises for Economic Reforms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 598-607, June.
    11. Kornai, J, 1979. "Resource-Constrained versus Demand-Constrained Systems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 801-819, July.
    12. Noorbakhsh, Farhad & Paloni, Alberto & Youssef, Ali, 2001. "Human Capital and FDI Inflows to Developing Countries: New Empirical Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1593-1610, September.
    13. Scully, Gerald W, 1988. "The Institutional Framework and Economic Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(3), pages 652-662, June.
    14. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1991. "Privatization and Incentives," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 84-105, Special I.
    15. Steven Globerman & Daniel Shapiro, 2003. "Governance infrastructure and US foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 19-39, January.
    16. Abdullah Al-Obaidan, 2002. "Efficiency effect of privatization in the developing countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 111-117.
    17. Ramamurti, Ravi, 1999. "Why haven't developing countries privatized deeper and faster?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 137-155, January.
    18. Nancy Brune & Geoffrey Garrett & Bruce Kogut, 2004. "The International Monetary Fund and the Global Spread of Privatization," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 51(2), pages 1-1.
    19. Bienen, Henry & Waterbury, John, 1989. "The political economy of privatization in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 617-632, May.
    20. Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, 2002. "Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: On Factors Affecting Implementation," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Clarke, George R G & Cull, Robert, 2002. "Political and Economic Determinants of the Likelihood of Privatizing Argentine Public Banks," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(1), pages 165-197, April.
    22. Scott J. Wallsten, 2001. "An Econometric Analysis of Telecom Competition, Privatization, and Regulation in Africa and Latin America," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 1-19, March.
    23. Bruno Biais & Enrico Perotti, 2002. "Machiavellian Privatization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 240-258, March.
    24. John Nellis, 2003. "Privatization in Africa: What has Happened? What is to be Done?," Working Papers 25, Center for Global Development.
    25. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    26. Kikeri, Sunita & Kolo, Aishetu, 2005. "Privatization : trends and recent developments," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3765, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Noemí Peña‐Miguel & Beatriz Cuadrado‐Ballesteros, 2018. "The role of governance in privatisation reforms: A European analysis," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 479-500, November.
    2. Samuel Adams, 2011. "Privatization and National Development: A Case Study of Ghana," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 237-253, September.
    3. Adams, Samuel & Klobodu, Edem Kwame Mensah & Apio, Alfred, 2018. "Renewable and non-renewable energy, regime type and economic growth," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 755-767.
    4. Josiah, Jairos & Burton, Bruce & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2010. "Accounting for privatisation in Africa? Reflections from a critical interdisciplinary perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 374-389.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samuel Adams & Berhanu Mengistu, 2008. "Privatization, Governance and Economic Development in Developing Countries," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 24(4), pages 415-438, October.
    2. Josiah, Jairos & Burton, Bruce & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2010. "Accounting for privatisation in Africa? Reflections from a critical interdisciplinary perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 374-389.
    3. Samuel Adams, 2011. "Privatization and National Development: A Case Study of Ghana," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 237-253, September.
    4. Witold J. Henisz & Bennet A. Zelner & Mauro F. Guillen, 2004. "International Coercion, Emulation and Policy Diffusion: Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reforms, 1977-1999," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-713, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Schuster, Philipp & Schmitt, Carina & Traub, Stefan, 2013. "The retreat of the state from entrepreneurial activities: A convergence analysis for OECD countries, 1980–2007," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 95-112.
    6. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Guedhami, Omrane & Saffar, Walid, 2011. "The political economy of residual state ownership in privatized firms: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 244-258, April.
    7. David Parker & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2005. "Privatisation in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence and the Policy Lessons," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 513-541.
    8. Willner, Johan & Parker, David, 2002. "The Relative Performance of Public and Private Enterprise Under Conditions of Active and Passive Ownership," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30591, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    9. Andres, Luis & Foster, Vivien & Guasch, Jose Luis, 2006. "The impact of privatization on the performance of the infrastructure sector : the case of electricity distribution in Latin American countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3936, The World Bank.
    10. Carlos Suarez, 2021. "Private management and strategic bidding behavior in electricity markets: Evidence from Colombia," IREA Working Papers 202102, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jan 2021.
    11. Francesc Trillas, 2004. "The structure of corporate ownership in privatized utilities," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 28(2), pages 257-284, May.
    12. Alberto Cavaliere & Simona Scabrosetti, 2008. "Privatization And Efficiency: From Principals And Agents To Political Economy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 685-710, September.
    13. Hamdi Ben‐Nasr & Narjess Boubakri & Jean‐Claude Cosset, 2012. "The Political Determinants of the Cost of Equity: Evidence from Newly Privatized Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 605-646, June.
    14. Kogut, Bruce & Macpherson, J. Muir, 2011. "The mobility of economists and the diffusion of policy ideas: The influence of economics on national policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1307-1320.
    15. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    16. Carlo Cambini & Laura Rondi, 2010. "Regulatory Independence and Political Interference: Evidence from EU Mixed-Ownership Utilities’ Investment and Debt," Working Papers 2010.69, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    17. Borisova, Ginka & Cowan, Arnold R., 2014. "Government asset sales, economic nationalism, and acquirer wealth effects," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 351-368.
    18. Clarke, George R. G. & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2004. "Privatization, competition, and corruption: how characteristics of bribe takers and payers affect bribes to utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2067-2097, August.
    19. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Guedhami, Omrane, 2005. "Postprivatization corporate governance: The role of ownership structure and investor protection," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 369-399, May.
    20. Suarez, Carlos, 2022. "Private management and strategic bidding behavior in electricity markets: Evidence from Colombia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:89:y:2008:i:1:p:78-94. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.