Explains that the public sector is a major buyer of goods and services. In the mid‐1980s discriminatory (buy national) public purchasing was identified as one of the barriers to the completion of the Single European Market. Studies suggested that a more liberal public purchasing regime would...

Internationally public utilities, sometimes referred to as network industries, are being privatised and dedicated regulatory structures to protect the public interest are being introduced. This study looks at the related issues of post‐privatisation performance, regulatory risk and management...

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to examine alternative methods of regulating prices and/or profits of privatised utilities in low‐income countries with a view to identifying their strengths and weaknesses. Design/methodology/approach – The economics of regulation literature has favoured...

The 1980s saw a resurgence of the notion that transferring assets from the public sector to private enterprise would raise both allocative and technical efficiency, leading to greater economic well‐being. This resurgence led in the UK and elsewhere to privatization and the transfer of state...

Privatization is occurring at various levels of government in many countries around the world. So extensive is the reform programme that the term “reinventing government” has taken on a fashionable gloss. To date, privatization and market testing programmes have been advocated with...

In many countries state ownership of public utilities is being abandoned in favour of private ownership with state regulation. To prevent monopoly abuse, regulatory structures are being created for the telecommunications, gas, electricity and water and sewerage sectors. From 1984 the UK...