PRIVATISATION has not provided the miracle cure for the problems (especially inefficiencies) associated with the public sector. The public interest has rarely been well served by private interests taking over from the public sector.
IMF research acknowledged privatisation “can lead to job losses, wage cuts and higher prices for consumers”. World Bank found huge job losses when big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were privatised.
In the US, the UK, Canada, Chile, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 1999-2004, privatisation more adversely affected women workers. IMF and World Bank safety net or compensation proposals were either too costly for the public treasury or too administratively burdensome.
Diverting private capital from productive new investments to buy over state-held assets has slowed, rather than accelerated economic growth. This diverts funding from productive new investments, augmenting economic capacities, to instead buy over existing assets. Instead of contributing to growth, this simply changes asset ownership.
Listing privatised SOEs subjects them to short term managerial considerations, typically to maximise quarterly earnings, thus discouraging productive investments for the longer term. This short-term focus tends to marginalise the long-term interests of the enterprise and the nation.
Thus, stock market listing implies the introduction, perpetuation and promotion of a short-termist culture. This is often inimical to the interests of corporate and national development more generally, and improving economic welfare more broadly.
Both evenly distributed and concentrated share ownership undermine the corporate performance of the privatised enterprise, whereas SOE ownership could overcome such collective action problems. Where the population has equal shares following privatisation, such as after “voucher privatisation”, no one has any particular interest in ensuring the privatised company is run well, worsening governance problems.
Thus, public pressure to ensure equitable share ownership may undermine corporate performance. As shareholders only have small stakes, they are unlikely to incur the high cost of monitoring management and corporate performance. Thus, nobody has an incentive to take much interest in improving corporate operations.
This “collective action” problem exacerbates the “principal-agent” problem as no one has enough shareholder clout to require improvements to the management due to everyone having equal shares and hence modest stakes. Conversely, concentrated share ownership undermines corporate performance.
Privatisation may postpone a fiscal crisis by temporarily reducing fiscal deficits with additional “one-off” revenues from selling public assets. However, in the long-term, the public sector would lose income from profitable SOEs and be stuck with financing and subsidising unprofitable ones. More resources would also be needed to finance government obligations previously cross-subsidised by SOE revenue streams.
As experience shows, the fiscal crisis may even deepen if new owners of profitable SOEs avoid paying taxes with creative accounting or to the typically generous terms of privatisation. For example, Sydney Airport paid no tax in the first decade after it was privatised even though it earned almost A$8 billion; instead, it received tax benefits of almost A$400 million!
Typically, investments in SOEs do not show up as government development expenditure or debt. Instead, they are hidden away as government-guaranteed debt, which accrue as “contingent liabilities”. Thus, the government remains ultimately responsible. Problems arise when ministers force SOEs to undertake projects, make investments, or buy overpriced equipment or services, especially when not even needed.
Privatisation tends to stoke inequality. Due to the macroeconomic consequences of privatisation, reduced investments in the real economy would mean less job growth, stagnant wages, or both.
Diversion of available funds to buy existing assets diminishes resources available to expand real economic capacities and capabilities. Thus, by diverting private capital from productive new investments to privatise existing public sector assets, economic growth would be slowed, rather than enhanced.
Privatisation gives priority to profit maximisation, typically at the expense of social welfare, equity and the public interest. In most instances, such priorities tend to reduce jobs, overtime work opportunities and real wages for employees besides imposing higher user fees or charges on customers or consumers. Thus, privatisation, tends to adversely affect the interests of public sector employees and the public, especially poorer consumers.
Investments by the new private owners are typically focused on maximising short-term profits, and may therefore be minimised. Profit-maximising commercial or “economic” costing has generated various problems, often causing services and utilities, such as water and electricity, to become more inferior or expensive.
Without subsidies, privatised companies typically increase living costs, eg, for water supply and electricity, especially in poorer, rural and more remote areas. Thankfully, technological change has reduced many telecommunication charges, which would otherwise have been much higher due to privatisation.
Privatisation was supposed to lead to fair competition, but private owners have an interest in retaining SOEs’ privileges. Hence, there has been concern about: (i) formal and informal collusion, including cartel-like agreements; (ii) privileged bidding for procurement contracts and other such opportunities; and (iii) some interested parties enjoying special influence and other privileges.
Costs of living have undoubtedly increased for all. Privatisation has often resulted in dualistic provision of inferior services for the poor, and superior services for those who can afford more.
The implications of dual provision vary greatly, and may well be appreciated by those who can afford costlier, but better, privatised services, especially as many resented cross-subsidisation of services to the needy. – IPS
