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THE FIRST PRIVATIZATION: SELLING SOEs AND PRIVATIZING PUBLIC MONOPOLIES IN FASCIST ITALY (1922-1925)

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  • Germa Bel

    (Universitat de Barcelona)

Abstract

Italys first Fascist government applied a large-scale privatization policy between 1922 and 1925. The government privatized the state monopoly of match sale, eliminated the State monopoly on life insurances, sold most of the State-owned telephone networks and services to private firms, reprivatized the largest metal machinery producer, and awarded concessions to private firms to build and operate motorways. While ideological considerations may have had a certain influence, privatization was used mainly as a political tool to build confidence among industrialists and to increase support for the government and the Partito Nazionale Fascista. Privatization also contributed to balancing the budget, which was the core objective of Fascist economic policy in its first phase.

Suggested Citation

  • Germa Bel, 2009. "THE FIRST PRIVATIZATION: SELLING SOEs AND PRIVATIZING PUBLIC MONOPOLIES IN FASCIST ITALY (1922-1925)," Working Papers in Economics 235, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    • Handle: RePEc:bar:bedcje:2009235
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    1. Destra Sociale ieri e oggi (prima parte)
      by Lorenzo Battisti in Pensieri Economici on 2012-02-02 02:23:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Di Martino & Emanuele Felice & Michelangelo Vasta, 2017. "The curious case of the coexistence of two “access-orders”: Explaining the Italian regional divide," Department of Economics University of Siena 758, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    2. Clara Elisabetta Mattei, 2015. "The Guardians of Capitalism: International Consensus and Fascist Technocratic Implementation of Austerity," LEM Papers Series 2015/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    3. Giacomo Gabbuti, 2023. "Wealth and Ideology in Italy: The 1923 ''Quasi Abolition'' of Inheritance Tax and Fascists' ''Middle Class Politics''," LEM Papers Series 2023/04, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Gasperin, Simone, 2022. "Lessons from the past for 21st century systems of state-owned enterprises: The case of Italy's IRI in the 1930s," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 599-612.
    5. Clara Elisabetta Mattei, 2015. "Austerity and Repressive Politics: Italian Economists in the Early Years of the Fascist Government," LEM Papers Series 2015/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    6. Hugh Goldsmith, 2014. "The Long-Run Evolution of Infrastructure Services," CESifo Working Paper Series 5073, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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