Privatization: Implications of a Shift from State to Private Ownership

Privatization—defined here as the transfer of ownership state-owned organizations to private parties—has attracted attention scholars across multiple fields. Privatization programs have been based on assumption, grounded in microeconomic theory, that a shift from public will incentivize more efficient management available resources. However, failure deliver expected outcomes some cases and nuanced perspective state-ownership offered by recent research seem challenge this calling for revisiting literature. Our comparative review existing studies suggests mixed results privatization could be partly explained what was privatized, how it regulatory regime under which privatized. By doing so, our provides conceptual clarity structure rich but fragmented body literature, making seemingly divergent findings legible, outlining theoretical gaps, identifying avenues future exploration.