Privatization in Post-Socialist Economies

Issue title: Economic Transformations in Russia and E. Europe

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ellerman, David P.^{; *}

Affiliations: The World Bank, EDI, Room M-6045, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, USA

Note: [*] The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the World Bank.

Abstract: Our purpose is to trace the trajectory of the debate about privatization in the post-socialist economies. We argue that centralized case-by-case direct sales are impossibly slow and that mass privatization plans are not genuine privatization plans. Hope lies in the development of decentralized regulated forms of spontaneous privatization such as post-socialist versions of the management-employee buy-outs (MEBOs) seen in the American Taking-Private Movement. We will outline a rapid decentralized plan that draws on the decentralized programs used in Slovenia, Croatia, and Poland.

Keywords: Decentralized privatization, management-employee buy-outs, vouchers

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1993-12403

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 271-279, 1993