Regulating Public Utilities

In many parts of the world governments are privatizing their telecommunications, gas, electricity and water and sewerage services. To prevent monopoly abuse regulatory systems are being introduced, many based on the UK model. Since 1984 the UK has privatized its major utilities and established dedicated regulatory offices to police prices, investments and service quality.

Privatization combined with regulation is premised on the view that by controlling the activities of private monopolies and by promoting competition wherever feasible, efficiency of service delivery can be improved and prices to consumers reduced. This article reviews the UK experience and outlines the lessons for other countries when designing or reforming their regulatory structures.     

Restructuring the Australian State

Since the election of the Hawke Labor government in 1983 the Australian state has undergone a process of restructuring that has affected all levels of government We examine the key features of this process, including the restructuring of the public service, privatization and marketization, market liberalization and National Competition Policy We find that successive federal governments, both Labor and Coalition, have followed a model of change dominated by neo-liberal assumptions about the innate superiority of the private sector and the desirability of opening. Australian markets to the vagaries of a globalizing economic system Profitable public sector assets have been broken up and transferred to the private sector. While this process was marketed in terms of the efficiency benefits to be derived from vigorous competition, the privatized assets are already being reaggregated into what is likely to become an oligopolistic utilities market.     

我国海港民营化的法律规制体系研究——基于效率与公共性相平衡的视角

我国海港民营化虽已具备合法性，但仍缺乏配套法律规范，而明确其法律规制方向可谓首要问题。参考国际理论与实践，我国应根据重要性对海港进行分类与集中管理，进而有层次、有阶段地逐步推进民营化，并在港口法及其相关法律规定中确立“公一民港”为海港公与民伙伴关系的基准模式。日本海港改革中的特例港口运营公司制度、民间事业者提案制度等议题值得借鉴。在具体方式上，除“独资、控股、参股”所有权转移型民营化外，还应积极推进PPP型民营化的法律规制。     

基础设施产权制度变革：国际经验及启示

以英国为代表的西方发达国家的基础设施大多经历了民营化—国有化—民营化的制度变迁,而美国一直由民间部门占据基础设施供给的主导地位。对英美两国基础设施产权制度变革背景的回顾、评论与反思表明,基础设施可以由政府部门提供也可以由民间部门提供,基础设施的产权制度安排必须与一国的经济发展阶段、施政哲学及原有的管制制度基础相适应和衔接。管制成本与收益的比较决定了基础设施最终的产权制度安排。     

The Auction Price of Apartments in Moscow: Hedonic Estimation in Disequilibrium1

The purpose of this paper is to see how economic factors determine prices in the previously communist countries undergoing privatization. This does not concern the auctions of big state enterprises where the prices are found to be rigged. In this paper we estimate hedonic price functions based on a unique data set on auction prices of apartments in Moscow. We collected the data ourselves by attending the auctions and gathered data on the characteristics. We estimated the hedonic equations using a disequilibrium approach because no equilibrium prices were observed for large number of apartments that were withdrawn from the auction. We found that, as the privatization of residential housing was carried out, the hedonic price equations fit the data remarkably well.     

State versus private provision: How does China’s market‐oriented reform affect healthcare delivery?

The role of the government in health care provision remains a contested issue worldwide. Public hospitals dominate China’s health care industry. However, in the early 2000s, the eastern China city of Suqian privatized all its hospitals and relaxed entry barriers for private hospitals. We assess the impact of the pro‐market reform on hospital performance using a differences‐in‐differences approach. We find that the pro‐market reform decreased medical price and expenditure, improved self‐reported health outcomes, and reduced search time and cost for patients. We show that after the reform, Suqian residents had greater trust in doctors than did residents from other cities.     

Wy are the transition paths in China and Eastern Europe different?

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework linking communist regime collapse and privatizing economic reforms. The framework permits us to explain why certain communist regimes lost their monopoly of political power while others have not. We show that the essential difference between those communist regimes which survived economic reform and those which did not, lies in the nature of the privatization reform introduced by the communist leadership. The privatization that we call ‘Market‐Leninist’, was implemented in China and Vietnam while the second type of privatization, termed ‘Embezzlement for a rainy day’ was the type of privatization implemented in Eastern Europe. We show, in the context of a game between rulers and the population, that the size of the repressive apparatus is the key element determining the type of privatization chosen by the rulers. JEL classification: P2, P3.     

State Ownership, Privatization and Performance in Singapore: An Exploratory Study from a Strategic Management Perspective

This paper considers the ownership debate with regard to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) performance, that is, whether superior performance of SOEs can be achieved under state ownership. While the traditional belief has been, supported by empirical work, that private ownership is generally associated with superior performance, the experience of Singapore is a clear example to the contrary. We outline global privatization trends and discuss the impact of privatization programs. We then discuss Singapore Telecom as a case where state ownership combined with several contextual and firm-related factors, especially firm strategy, has led to sustained world-class performance. We develop a theoretical framework for this analysis based on the strategic management field. We lastly outline some theoretical and practical implications of the analysis.     

Privatization and Regulatory Reform in Brazil: The Case of Freight Railways

A variety of proposals for creating more competition within the railroad sector and in the broader freight transport sector are under consideration in countries throughout the world. Brazil, though something of a latecomer to wider infrastructure reform, has recently taken large steps in restructuring its railroad system. This paper analyzes Brazils ongoing railroad reforms, seeking to place them in the context both of the broader reform project going on in Brazil and of railroad reforms taking place in developing and developed countries worldwide.     

匈牙利三十年改革历程回顾与启示

匈牙利是以原苏联为中心的社会主义阵营中最早实行经济体制改革的国家，它从1968年开始全面的经济体制改革，至今已走过了30年的改革历程。回顾匈牙利的改革史，其中有辉煌也有失败；有值得我们借鉴的宝贵经验，也有我们应该吸取的前车之鉴。匈牙利的经历与我国相似，原有的计划经济体制也大同小异。因此，从目标出发，认真分析研究匈牙利的改革措施，借鉴其成功经验和失误教训。无疑会对我国建设有中国特色的社会主义市场经济，推动国有企业资产重组的进程大有裨益。