IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v49y2017i5p1040-1059.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is privatization? A political economy framework

Author

Listed:
  • Julien Mercille
  • Enda Murphy

Abstract

This paper presents a political economic framework for understanding privatization. Its claims are illustrated empirically through examples from contemporary Europe. Theoretically, it starts with the concept of accumulation by dispossession, which refers to the conversion of non-capitalist spaces and practices into the capitalist sphere. This conversion occurs through privatization, liberalization, and marketization. The paper focuses on privatization and presents a schematic that outlines four forms it can take: corporatization, outsourcing, public–private partnerships, and divestiture/asset transfer. These are located on a continuum denoting the extent of private sector involvement. The schematic is an important methodological contribution that enables comparative research on privatization across economic sectors and geographical settings. It thus improves on the accumulation by dispossession literature, which has focused largely on case studies but neglected generic frameworks.

Suggested Citation

  • Julien Mercille & Enda Murphy, 2017. "What is privatization? A political economy framework," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(5), pages 1040-1059, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:49:y:2017:i:5:p:1040-1059
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X16689085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X16689085
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X16689085?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. Julien Mercille, 2014. "The role of the media in fiscal consolidation programmes: the case of Ireland," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(2), pages 281-300.
    2. Bel Germà & Fageda Xavier & E. Mildred, 2014. "Is private production of public services cheaper than public production? A meta-regression analysis of solid waste and water services," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 103-140.
    3. Michael Levien, 2013. "The Politics of Dispossession," Politics & Society, , vol. 41(3), pages 351-394, September.
    4. Paul H. Jensen & Robin E. Stonecash, 2005. "Incentives and the Efficiency of Public Sector‐outsourcing Contracts," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 767-787, December.
    5. 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.
    6. John Vickers & George Yarrow, 1991. "Economic Perspectives on Privatization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 111-132, Spring.
    7. Blyth, Mark, 2013. "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199828302.
    8. Marica Frangakis & Jörg Huffschmid, 2009. "Privatisation in Western Europe," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Marica Frangakis & Christoph Hermann & Jörg Huffschmid & Károly Lóránt (ed.), Privatisation against the European Social Model, chapter 2, pages 9-29, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Michael Webber, 2008. "The Places of Primitive Accumulation in Rural China," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(4), pages 395-421, October.
    10. Derek Hall, 2013. "Primitive Accumulation, Accumulation by Dispossession and the Global Land Grab," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1582-1604, October.
    11. Harvey, David, 2005. "The New Imperialism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278084.
    12. David Parker & David Saal (ed.), 2003. "International Handbook on Privatization," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2330.
    13. Dónal Palcic & Eoin Reeves, 2011. "Privatisation in Ireland," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-29757-9, March.
    14. John Vickers & George Yarrow, 1988. "Privatization: An Economic Analysis," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262720116, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Gong, Stephen X.H. & Cullinane, Kevin & Firth, Michael, 2012. "The impact of airport and seaport privatization on efficiency and performance: A review of the international evidence and implications for developing countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 37-47.
    2. N.F. Cruz & R.C. Marques & A. Marra & C. Pozzi, 2014. "Local Mixed Companies: The Theory And Practice In An International Perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(1), pages 1-9, March.
    3. Marius Constantin PROFIROIU & Septimiu Rares SZABO, 2016. "Outsourcing vs decentralisation: A comparative analysis in Central and Eastern Europe," Eco-Economics Review, Ecological University of Bucharest, Economics Faculty and Ecology and Environmental Protection Faculty, vol. 2(2), pages 3-26, December.
    4. Peeter Peda & Giuseppe Grossi & Margo Liik, 2013. "Do ownership and size affect the performance of water utilities? Evidence from Estonian municipalities," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(2), pages 237-259, May.
    5. Germa Bel, 2009. "From Public to Private: Privatization in 1920's Fascist Italy," RSCAS Working Papers 2009/46, European University Institute.
    6. D Palcic & Eoin Reeves, 2015. "Privatization and the economic performance of Irish Sugar/Greencore," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(55), pages 5945-5961, November.
    7. Nobuaki Hamaguchi, 2002. "Will The Market Keep Brazil Lit Up? Ownership And Market Structural Changes In The Electric Power Sector," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 40(4), pages 522-552, December.
    8. Druk-Gal, Bat-Sheva & Yaari, Varda, 2006. "Incumbent employees' resistance to implementing privatization policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 374-405, March.
    9. Nandini Gupta, 2001. "Partial Privatization and Firm Performance: Evidence from India," Industrial Organization 0112002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. José M. Alonso & Judith Clifton & Daniel Díaz-Fuentes, 2015. "Did New Public Management Matter? An empirical analysis of the outsourcing and decentralization effects on public sector size," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(5), pages 643-660, May.
    11. Juan Carlos Garrido-Rodríguez & Gemma Pérez-López & José Luis Zafra-Gómez & Diego Prior, 2018. "Estimación de la eficiencia a largo plazo en servicios públicos locales mediante fronteras robustas con datos de panel," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 226(3), pages 11-36, September.
    12. Saul Estrin, 2020. "Towards A Framework To Understand The Relative Performance Of State-Owned Firms," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 65(225), pages 11-32, April – J.
    13. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2008. "Political connections of newly privatized firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 654-673, December.
    14. Mühlenkamp, Holger, 2013. "From state to market revisited: more empirical evidence on the efficiency of public (and privately-owned) enterprises," MPRA Paper 47570, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Amir HEFETZ & Mildred E. WARNER, 2010. "Dynamics of service provision: service, market and place characteristics," Departmental Working Papers 2010-33, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    16. Alessandro MARRA, 2007. "Internal Regulation By Mixed Enterprises: The Case Of The Italian Water Sector," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 78(2), pages 245-275, June.
    17. Boggio, Margherita, 2011. "From Reluctant Privatization to Municipal Capitalism: an Overview on Ownership, Political Connections and Decentralization," MPRA Paper 46232, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Abdella Abdou & Saeed Moshiri, 2009. "Privatization and capital formation in developing countries: an empirical analysis," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 557-575.
    19. Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Wang, He, 2017. "Do state and foreign ownership affect investment efficiency? Evidence from privatizations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 408-421.
    20. Holger MAHLENKAMP, 2015. "From State To Market Revisited: A Reassessment Of The Empirical Evidence On The Efficiency Of Public (And Privately-Owned) Enterprises," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(4), pages 535-557, December.

    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:sae:envira:v:49:y:2017:i:5:p:1040-1059. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.