Privatization: Theory, Evidence, and Implementation

Privatization-the transfer of public assets, infrastructure, and service functions to the private sector is a new area of public policy and finance. In fact, it is so new that the word privatize appeared in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary for the first time in 1983. Although privatization has become the centerpiece of national policy in some countries -most notably the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has denationalized several hundred public enterprises -it has made a rather inconspicuous appearance on the policy agenda of governmental entities in the United States.