With this theoretical survey the thesis is put forward that the method of privatization as well as the structure of the privatization agency is choosen by the politicians for politico-economic reasons, and not for reasons of saving transaction costs or for reasons of ideological preferences. The...

Governments with transitional economies have applied different privatisation methods, from an almost free distribution to the direct sales of state assets. While a free distribution was believed to ensure the political feasibility of the program and its fairness, direct sales, or more generally,...

A 2006 survey of 28,000 individuals in 28 post-communist countries reveals overwhelming support for revising privatization, but also that most respondents prefer to leave firms in private hands. We test three theories of support for reform by examining who wants to revise privatization and why....

Should economic policy be guided by rules? In this paper, we take the perspective of the Freiburg School and trace its argument for rule-based Ordnungspolitik back to the roots of the concept. In doing so, will not offer a comprehensive review of the literature, but argue closely along the works...

This paper analyzes decisions of managers on restructuring before privatization. After privatization, the new owner decides on manager's future based on his/her beliefs on manager's quality. Manager and owner are playing a signaling game, in which restructuring is a signal of manager's quality....

Modernization theory studies the process of social evolution and the development of societies. There are two levels of analysis in classical modernization theory: the microcosmic evaluations of modernization, which focuses on the componential elements of social modernization; and the macrocosmic...

George Orwell's famous fictions, Animal Farm and Nineteen-Eighty Four were intended to advocate democratic socialism by portraying undemocratic forms of socialism as totalitarian. For Orwell, democracy was a political institution which would limit the abuse of power. But there are several...