Privatization and After: Monitoring and Regulation/Edited by V.V.Ramanadham
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PRIVATIZATION AND AFTER Has privatization been a success? As an increasing number of countries move towards market economies, it is important to measure just how well the privatized section functions. Privatization and After discusses the need to monitor privatization. The authors argue that monitoring will show whether or not the process is fulfilling its objectives and contributing to improved economic performance. The book also assesses the need for, and techniques of, regulating privatized enterprises in situations of continuing monopoly or significant market control. This is supported by an in-depth analysis of regulation in the UK and its implications for developing countries. Further illustrative material is drawn from a range of developed, developing and former socialist countries. The contributors include policy-makers, professionals and academics from both the developed and developing world. Privatization and After presents a detailed analysis of a neglected area in the field of privatization—vis-à-vis monitoring and regulation—and provides a valuable guide for both students and professionals. Professor V.V.Ramanadham is currently Coordinator of the UNDP Interregional Network on Privatization. He has been engaged in research in the field of public enterprise, privatization and industrial economics for over 45 years, and has numerous publications in the area. Recent books include Public Enterprise and Income Distribution, The Economics of Public Enterprise, Privatization in the UK (ed.), Privatization: A Global Perspective (ed.) and Constraints and Impacts of Privatization (ed.). He is an Associate Fellow of Templeton College, Oxford, and the Founder-Director of the Institute of Public Enterprise, India. PRIVATIZATION AND AFTER Monitoring and regulation Edited by V.V.Ramanadham London and New York First published 1994 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1994 Interregional Network on Privatization (UNDP) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Privatization and after: monitoring and regulation/edited by V.V.Ramanadham. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-11112-9 (Print Edition) 1. Privatization—Developing countries. I. Ramanadham, V.V. (Venkata Vemuri), 1920– HD4420.8.P74 1994 338.9′009172′4—dc20 94–3978 CIP ISBN 0-415-11112-9 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-06492-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-16131-9 (Glassbook Format) To Chandravati who lives in my memory CONTENTS List of figuresix List of tables x List of contributorsxi Foreword xii Preface xiii 1 THE MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION V.V.Ramanadham 1 2 THE ECONOMICS OF REGULATION George Yarrow 35 3 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN PAKISTAN Riyaz H.Bokhari 47 4 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN SRI LANKA A.S.Jayawardena 66 5 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN NIGERIA Shamsuddeen Usman 92 6 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN GUYANA Carl B.Greenidge 107 7 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN ARGENTINA Alejandro E.Rausch 144 8 MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF PRIVATIZATION IN FIVE FORMER CENTRALLY-PLANNED ECONOMIES John Heath 172 CONTENTS 9 THE UK EXPERIENCE IN REGULATION Accountability, Efficiency and the Governmental Context of Privatization and Dominant Firm Regulation Mark Gray 188 Highlights of Regulation in Telecom, Gas, Water and Electricity Sectors V.V.Ramanadham 194 10 ACCOUNTING ASPECTS OF MONITORING AND REGULATION OF PRIVATIZED ENTERPRISES Anthony Bennett 210 11 CONCLUDING REVIEW V.V. Ramanadham 232 Index 242 viii FIGURES 1.1 The taxonomy of monitoring 2 1.2 The content of monitoring 4 1.3 Impacts of privatization 20 1.4 Parallel requisites to successful divestiture 32 9.1 Integrated structure—regulatory options 200 9.2 Structure of the new regulatory regime 203 10.1 Performance comparison 217 11.1 The regulatory basket 238 ix TABLES 4.1 Privatization of public enterprises in Sri Lanka, 30 June 1993 84 6.1 Tasks assigned to agencies involved in the management of the privatization exercise 112 6.2 Responsibilities of various agencies in evaluation of privatization 125 6.3 Regulative agencies and their sectors 132 6.4 Regulative agencies and the type of activities regulated 135 7.1 Privatized enterprises in Argentina, 1990–3 168 9.1 General government expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic profit (GDP) (constant 1985 prices) in the UK, 1970–90 190 9.2 PSBR counterparts of money stock 192 9.3 Relationship between PSBR finance and money stock 192 9.4 Guaranteed standards of service summary204 x CONTRIBUTORS Anthony Bennett Technical Adviser, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development, New York. Riyaz H.Bokhari Member of Board of Directors of National Bank of Pakistan. Mark Gray Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Civil Service College, Ascot. Carl B.Greenidge Deputy Secretary-General, African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, Brussels. John Heath Professor of Economics, London Business School, 1970–86. A.S.Jayawardena Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Formerly alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Science and Technology. V.V.Ramanadham Coordinator, Interregional Network on Privatization, United Nations Development Programme, New York. Alejandro E.Rausch Short- and long-term consultant for United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, Interamerican Development Bank and private firms. Shamsuddeen Usman Currently Executive Director (Corporate and International Banking), Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. George Yarrow Fellow, Hertford College, Oxford; Associate Fellow, Templeton College, Oxford; Director, Regulatory Policy Institute, Oxford. xi FOREWORD Privatization has become a watchword in many countries seeking to improve their economic performance. The selling off of under-performing state enterprises has relieved many governments of significant budgetary burdens. However, it appears that governments have not always paid enough attention to monitoring the process of implementation, nor to the regulation of privatized enterprises to meet social and other requirements. Unless proper care is taken to address these issues, the full benefits of privatization might not be realized. This volume provides analysis and empirical insights on the monitoring and regulation of privatization. It draws on papers prepared by eminent developed- and developing-country experts which were first presented at a meeting of the Interregional Task Force on Privatization, held in July 1993 in Oxford, UK. A special feature of the report is a review of the UK experience, together with a consideration of the developing-country context. The study reported on here is the fourth in a series of studies undertaken by the Interregional Network on Privatization, established by UNDP’s Division for Global and Interregional Programmes. The Network takes a broad view of the privatization issue, looking not only at simple transfers of ownership but at the whole host of institutional and management changes aimed at maximizing an appropriate balance of sustainable social and economic benefits from public and quasi-public enterprises. Through this wide-ranging approach, together with the extensive involvement of both developing- and developed-country experts, the Network continues to make a unique contribution to analysis and debate of this issue. Professor V.V.Ramanadham, Coordinator of the Network, has edited this volume with great diligence and expertise. He has also provided an analytical introductory paper as well as a succinct concluding review. This report is intended to provide useful information on the intricacies and techniques of monitoring and regulating privatization. I sincerely hope it will attract the attention of those most in need of such information, especially the governments of developing countries and of countries in transition. James Gustave Speth Administrator United Nations Development Programme New York xii PREFACE The papers included in this volume emerge from the Interregional Task Force Meeting organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) —Division for Global and Interregional Programmes (DGIP) during July 1993 at Oxford. This has been a major activity of the UNDP’s Interregional Network on Privatization, devoted to an aspect of privatization which has not yet received the attention it needs, namely, monitoring and regulation. I convey my thanks to the contributors. I express my gratefulness to Mr James Gustave Speth, Administrator of the UNDP, for his Foreword, to Mr Timothy Rothermel, Director of DGIP, and Mr Philip Reynolds, for their guidance leading to this publication, and to Professor George Yarrow for his valuable co-operation in the conduct of this activity. Ramanadham Interregional Network on Privatization New York xiii 1 THE MONITORING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS