Cuba's telecommunications market

Two significant steps were taken in 1994 towards putting Cuba on line: the Castro government's partial privatization of its national telecoms enterprise and the lifting of the United States embargo on long distance telecommunications with Cuba. Both have far-reaching implications. Politically they could erode the hardline stance so far taken by both administrations. And the expected modernization of its ancient telecommunications system should make Cuba a more attractive investment target.     

Vertical Restructuring (or Not) of the Infrastructure Sectors of Transition Economies

One important determinant of the speed and success of transition will be the efficiency of transformation and development of the infrastructure sectors. A great deal of attention has been paid to issues such as privatization, restructuring, user prices, and terms of access in these sectors, regarding both developed and developing countries. Somewhat less attention has been devoted to issues regarding vertical restructuring, which are notable in the degree to which in different sectors and in different locations they raise similar questions that may have very different answers. This paper suggests a framework for answering such questions and seeks to apply it to the railroad, electricity, and telecommunications sectors in transition economies.     

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is often cited as a model for Central American economies because of its strong democratic institutions, political stability, and open economy. Foreign investment continues to play a pivotal role in fueling economic growth, particularly in the electronics, services, and medical components sectors. A strong record of social investments has resulted in a superior human resource base, a skilled labor pool, and preservation of its biodiversity. The recent formation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) provides new opportunities for the country but has also increased the pressures for more openness and privatization, particularly in the telecommunications industry, provoking fresh internal debate about the balance between economic growth and preserving social institutional arrangements. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Privatization: The theme of the 1990s

Privatization has clearly become the development issue of the 1990s. While not an end in itself, privatization of state owned enterprises should be viewed as a critical element of economic adjustment. Distilled from his extensive involvement with privatization programs, Lieberman identifies the underlying rationale for privatization, presents lessons to be learned in program design, and cautions against pitfalls to successful program implementation.     

The value-added of investment bankers in privatizations

Investment bankers are important advisors both to vendors and acquirers in privatization transactions. Their utility is derived from a thorough understanding of the process of privatization and from their objectivity in assessing and valuing an enterprise. While the international profile and large size of most privatizations are seemingly attractive, predictable pitfalls can be expected. Gallo's “ten rules of thumb” provide wise counsel to investment banks currently in or contemplating entry into the market for privatization services.     

The Economic Effects of Removing Barriers to Trade in Telecommunications

This paper quantifies the impact on the economies of the world of complete liberalisation of trade in a key services sector, telecommunications, using a global general equilibrium model. Barriers to trade in telecommunications are highest in developing regions and lowest in developed regions. The paper uses new estimates of these barriers for telecommunications. The results indicate that completely liberalising trade in telecommunications would benefit the world as a whole in terms of increased production by 0.1 per cent. Although the distribution of gains among regions is not even, most regions are projected to gain from liberalising trade in telecommunications. In general, the regions with the highest barriers benefit most. The analysis demonstrates that commercial presence of foreign firms via foreign direct investment is an important mode of delivering telecommunications.     

The making of an African success story: The privatization of Kenya Airways

This article explores the transformation of Kenya Airways from a loss‐making stateowned enterprise (SOE) to a very successful, profitable African airline and its relationship with KLM‐Royal Dutch Airlines. First, it analyzes the circumstances leading to the creation of Kenya Airways and then discusses the managerial and financial problems it encountered from the period it was set up until it was privatized. It also attempts to explain why and how Kenya Airways has been able to use privatization to avert liquidation. In this regard, it explores the benefits of privatization for the airline and the country as a whole and highlights lessons learned from this experience for the privatization process and strategies in Africa. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Understanding Trade Balances and Reciprocity in Global Telecom Between Asia and the United States (1984–2000)

ABSTRACT

From 1982 to 1997, the balance of trade deficit for U.S. telecommunications services increased tenfold. In the years since that time, the increase became less dramatic and eventually began to decline due to global deregulation and privatization efforts, as well as to multilateral agreements forged by most major countries. The countries of Asia contributed greatly to this increase and have also been examples of the reversal of the balance of trade deficit in recent years. Our analysis identifies partner reciprocity as a core issue of the international long-distance industry. We integrate various literature streams to better understand the issue of international reciprocity in service industries. Furthermore, we identify the trends in global telecom that explain the historical imbalanced reciprocity period between 1984 and 1997 and the more recent period where a more balanced reciprocity has existed between the United States and the Asian region.     

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: The Judge,the Vultures and Creditor Rights

What role did the US courts play in the Argentine debt swap of 2005? What implications does this have for the future of creditor rights in sovereign bond markets? The Judge in the Argentine case has, it appears, deftly exploited creditor heterogeneity – between ‘holdouts’ seeking capital gains and institutional investors wanting a settlement – to promote a swap with a supermajority of creditors. Our analysis of Argentine debt litigation reveals a ‘Judge‐mediated’ sovereign debt restructuring which resolves key issues of Transition and Aggregation – two of the tasks envisaged for the IMF's stillborn Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism. For the future, we discuss how Judge‐mediated sovereign debt restructuring (together with creditor committees) could complement Collective Action Clauses in sovereign bond contracts.     

Do currency boards increase the credibility of exchange-rate pegs?

After massive attacks against the peso in January 2002 the Argentine government abandoned its currency board arrangement. The collapse of the Argentine exchange-rate system initiated a new discussion about the pros and cons of currency boards. Why did the Argentine currency board fail? What does its collapse reveal about the conditions that have to be fulfilled for a currency board to function smoothly? What consequences can be drawn from the Argentine case with regard to the currency boards of countries in central and eastern Europe?     

城市公用事业民营化改革中的政府责任

本文在评述城市公用事业相关研究成果的基础上,重点讨论城市公用事业民营化改革中需加强法规政策的制定与实施、城市公用事业的整体规划与实施、城市公用事业基础设施的投资、维护社会公众利益、安全保障和应对突发事件、对特殊群体和事件的政策性补贴、实行有效政府管制等七个方面的政府责任,并据此提出了实现城市公用事业民营化中政府责任的若干政策建议。     

Rigorous privatization: The New Zealand experience

New Zealand's experience with privatization is considered by many to be as near “textbook” as the circumstances of politics and business will permit. Franks' analyzes the privatization strategies followed in radically reforming an economy driven by state-owned enterprises.     

Privatization of health care services in Canada: Reform or regress?

The emergence of the privatization of health care services as one of the dominant health policy issues in many western industrialized countries is no doubt related to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, fiscal crisis in the form of budgetary deficits, charges of public waste and mismanagement and underfunding, the onset of a new era of political and fiscal conservatism, and professional and corporate antipathy to certain aspects of publicly financed health insurance schemes. The paper discusses the meaning of privatization and stresses the importance of recognizing the different forms of privatization and the need to assess these forms against well specified health policy objectives. Current and proposed forms of privatization in Canada are described and evaluated. It is concluded that there are sound arguments against privatization through user fees for insured physician and hospital services. As for the other forms of privatization there are confusing and inconsistent findings that preclude a definitive conclusion as to the wisdom of a general push for privatization. It is stressed that there are not many empirically established facts about the likely effects of privatization and the many claims about the virtues of privatization are far from substantiated by careful research. In the absence of such evidence the push for reprivatization seems, as some critics have pointed out, ideologically motivated.     

The privatization of swarzedz furniture company (SFM): Lessons from Poland's first underwritten public offering

The sale through public offering of Poland's Swarzedz Furniture Company demonstrates that relatively complex privatization transactions can be successfully implemented in economies where capital market institutions have not yet fully emerged. However, the company's performance before and after privatization suggests that a change of ownership is a necessary, but not a sufficient, requirement for effective restructuring of a state-owned enterprise in a formerly socialist economy.     

Telecommunications - The Consumer Revolution

Lord Young of Graffham, Executive Chairman of Cable & Wireless plc, spoke at the third LSE Business Performance Lecture about the consumer revolution in telecommunications which has transformed the industry. Since liberalisation, the British telecommunications industry has lead its monopolised European counterparts. When Germany licensed one cellular phone operator in the mid-eighties, the British government went for competition and licensed two. Both companies seta target of 100,000 users by 1990. Germany achieved hers; Britain passed a million users. This revolution in the telecommunications industry is timely because information is the lifeblood of service industries and is also increasingly important in modern manufacturing. Imminent technological advances, like the personal communicator, the videophone, and multimedia will increasingly add to its importance.     

The Influence of Merger and Acquisition Activities on Corporate Performance in the Taiwanese Telecommunications Industry

This study attempts to make an empirical contribution to the understanding of corporate performance in the telecommunications industry. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is performed to assess corporate performance for the telecommunications sector in Taiwan and the relationships between corporate performance and merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. The empirical results reveal that M&A strategy does not seem to enhance corporate performance in the telecommunications industry, whilst an internal growth strategy does improve corporate performance.     

中国城市水务产业民营化的绩效评价实证研究

本文从总量水平、生产效率、利润和普遍服务水平四个方面构建了中国城市水务产业民营化的绩效评价指标体系,运用1990-2009年的数据检验了民营化对有关指标的影响。检验结果表明,民营化对增加城市水务产业供水总量和利润均有显著影响,但民营化对提高生产效率和普遍服务水平均没有显著影响。从分析结果看,城市水务产业利润增加很可能是由于水价提高造成的,因此政府必须建立有效的价格管制体系。同时,政府在推进民营化的过程中,应出台激励政策引导民营资本进入管网建设领域,以提高普遍服务水平。     

Law and industrial buyer-seller relationships: The privatization of a Mexican State-Owned steel company

This article examines the impact of privatization on the purchasing practice of a state-owned steel company in Mexico. It looks first at the changes in the law which affect the relationships of state-owned enterprises with their suppliers. It then presents possible implications of these legal changes for buyer-seller relationships drawn from transaction-cost and institutional theory. Finally, it compares the predicted and actual impact of privatization and draws some preliminary conclusions. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The privatization experience in Malaysia: Integrating build-operate-own and build-operate-transfer techniques within the national privatization strategy

The Malaysian privatization program is perhaps the most ambitious program found amongst developing or emerging market economies. While the program did not immediately flourish, it is characterized by its development of a well structured institutional framework and creative use of a series of highly innovative restructuring and privatization techniques, the most exciting being the Build-Own-Operate and Build-Operate-Transfer methods.     

Has the acceleration of privatization become inevitable in Bahrain?

Bahrain remains the most vulnerable Gulf country due to its limited savings and sharp rise in debt levels, leaving it exposed to high financing risks. The financial crisis has been deepened by the economic double blow of the decline in oil prices and the effects resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Bahrain has decreased subsidies and increased taxes on many products. Those measures seem, however, insufficient to mitigate the negative impacts on the economy. This paper presents a model based on a comparison between fast privatization and gradual privatization strategies undertaken in some Bahraini economic sectors. It shows that the contribution of privatization to economic restructuring is only as effective as the commitment of the government to maintain a high pace of privatization. This condition can provide needed revenues, and can particularly foster private investments and initiatives. Therefore, it may represent an appropriate context to elevate Bahrain out of the present equilibrium characterized by slow privatization and government dominance on the economy.