Humanist Cafe – 4 July 2018 – Does Private Ownership = More Efficient Operation?

A twentieth-century truism is that private ownership necessarily leads to more efficient operation of industries and public services. There are a number of variables that need to be taken into consideration when evaluating this premise: the measure of efficiency (e.g., productivity, number employed, profitability to shareholders, or the extent to which the service itself meets societal needs), the sort of industry or service, corruption in prior state management, and whether a monopolistic approach is beneficial, and to whom?

We invite you to examine evidence and experience from the references given. The answer may depend on the example that matters to you.

Privatization and its Benefits: Theory and Evidence

https://academic.oup.com/cesifo/article-abstract/49/3/429/299593?redirectedFrom=fulltext  [short abstract only]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ecot.12094 (China) [short abstract only]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840010007948 (developing countries) [short abstract only]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893816300151 (Canada) [short abstract only]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527312002745 (Spain) [short abstract only]

Advantages and Problems of Privatization

https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/501/economics/advantages-of-privatisation/

The Efficiency Myth (with evidence)

https://newint.org/features/2018/05/01/the-private-sector-efficiency-myth

http://www.corporatewatch.org/news/2014/dec/08/energy-rail-and-water-privatisation-costs-uk-households-%C2%A3250-year

Is it Private Ownership or is it the Nature of the Organization that Matters?

https://hbr.org/1991/11/does-privatization-serve-the-public-interest

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/24999-which-is-worse-government-or-corporate-bureaucracy

Is Reversing Privatization Feasible? – world-wide examples

https://newint.org/features/2018/05/01/fact-spread-remunicipalization-around-the-world

https://weownit.org.uk/privatisation – reasons to end privatization (Do these make sense?)