Privatizing Monopolies

Privatization, especially of monopolies and infrastructure sectors, has become increasingly important as national governments feel the pressure to reduce public spending, expand service, improve quality, and raise efficiency. Latin America has in recent years served as a laboratory for testing the limits of privatization.

In Privatizing Monopolies, a distinguished interdisciplinary team of business school faculty, economists, political scientists, and practitioners from multinational companies examines the lessons of this process in two important sectors: telecommunications and transport (airlines and roadways).

Chapters examine why governments privatized these sectors, what strategies they used to divest enterprises, why private investors were drawn to the deals, and - most important - what difference privatization made to the performance of the sectors. Changes in managerial behavior, induced by changes in ownership, competition, and regulation, are used to explain the observed outcome.

By analyzing the experiences of several countries in multiple sectors, the contributors offer valuable insights for other countries as well as for the privatization of other monopolistic sectors.