Skip to main content
Log in

Political and institutional environment and privatization prices

  • Published:
Public Choice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2011

Abstract

We study the link between the political and institutional context and privatization sales prices. The latter serves as a measure for assessing the extent to which privatization goals have been met. Whereas this link has been studied theoretically, there are very few, if any, empirical papers on this relationship. We use data from 308 privatizations around the world and apply a cross-country approach, including instrumental variables. We find that while the overall political regime does not matter much for prices, the political processes beyond the basic regime do matter. Institutional context also produces a significant impact on prices. Both results are robust to changes in specification.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arin, P. K., & Okten, C. (2003). The determinants of privatization prices: evidence from Turkey. Applied Economics, 35, 1393–1404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, T., Clarke, G., Groff, A., Keefer, P., & Walsh, P. (2001). New tools in comparative political economy: the database of political institutions. World Bank Economic Review, 15, 165–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bel, G., & Trillas, F. (2005). Privatization, corporate control, and regulatory reform: the case of Telefonica. Telecommunications Policy, 29, 25–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biais, B., & Perotti, E. (2002). Machiavellian privatization. American Economic Review, 92(1), 240–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, P., & Roland, G. (1992). Economics of mass privatization. In 15th Panel meeting of economic policy, Lisbon, Portugal, 1992.

  • Bortolotti, B., Fantini, M., & Siniscalco, D. (2003). Privatization around the world: evidence from panel data. Journal of Public Economics, 88, 305–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boubakri, N., Cosset, J., & Guedhami, O. (2005). Post-privatization corporate governance: the role of ownership structure and investor protection. Journal of Financial Economics, 76, 369–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong, A., & Zanforlin, L. (2004). Inward-looking policies, institutions, autocrats, and economic growth in Latin America: an empirical exploration. Public Choice, 121, 335–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong, A., & Galdo, V. (2005). Streamlining and privatization prices in the telecommunications industry. Economica, 73(291), 461–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong, A., & López-de-Silanes, F. (2004). Privatization and labor force restructuring around the world. Working Paper, Yale University and Inter-American Development Bank.

  • Clague, C., Keefer, P., Knack, S., & Olson, M. (1996). Property rights in autocracies and democracies. Journal of Economic Growth, 4, 185–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deininger, K., & Squire, L. (1996). A new data set measuring income inequality. World Bank Economic Review, 10, 565–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewenter, K. L., & Malatesta, P. H. (1997). Public offerings of state-owned and privately-owned enterprises: an international comparison. Journal of Finance, 62, 1659–1679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedom House 2005. http://www.freedomhouse.org.

  • Henisz, W. (2000). The institutional environment of economic growth. Economics and Politics, 12(1), 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaggers, K., & Moore, W. (1995). Tracking democracy’s third wave with the polity III data. Journal of Peace Research, 32(4), 469–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2003). Governance matters iii: governance indicators for 1996–2002. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3106. Washington, DC, United States: World Bank.

  • Knack, S., & Keefer, P. (1995). Institutions and economic performance: cross-country tests using alternative institutional measures. Economics and Politics, 7, 207–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Porta, R., López-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. (1998). Law and finance. Journal of Political Economy, 106, 1113–1155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-de-Silanes, F. (1997). Determinants of privatization prices. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4), 965–1025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. (1997). Privatization in the United States. RAND Journal of Economics, 28(3), 447–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perotti, E. (1995). Credible privatization. American Economic Review, 85(4), 847–859.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perotti, E., & van Oijen, P. (2001). Privatization, political risk, and stock market development in emerging economies. Journal of International Money and Finance, 20(1), 43–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roubini, N., & Sachs, J. (1989). Political and economic determinants of budget deficits in the industrial democracies. European Economic Review, 33, 903–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-I-Martin, X. (1997). I just ran two million regressions. American Economic Review, 87(2), 178–183 (Papers and Proceedings).

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank 2001. World Development Indicators. CD ROM, Washington, DC.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto Chong.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-011-9788-9

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chong, A., Guillen, J. & Riano, A. Political and institutional environment and privatization prices. Public Choice 142, 91–110 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9476-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9476-1

Keywords

JEL Classification

Navigation