Privatization, State Capitalism, and State Ownership of Business in the 21st Century

Privatization, State Capitalism, and State Ownership of Business in the 21st Century provides an overview of economic and political developments relating to privatization, state capitalism, and state ownership of business, and will then survey the extensive recent research examining privatization and state ownership. The author adopts a policy of categorizing the post-2004 research into three principal areas: (1) empirical privatization studies; (2) theoretical and empirical studies examining the level, type, and valuation impact of state ownership of business enterprises; and (3) empirical research examining the impact of state ownership on financial markets and institutions, plus the private and public social welfare implications of political connections between politicians and business executives. Privatization, State Capitalism, and State Ownership of Business in the 21st Century starts by surveying the recent empirical privatization research. Second, Section 3 summarizes the empirical and theoretical research examining the level, type, and valuation impact of state ownership in the world's major economic regions. This summary will also assess research examining the relative efficiency of state versus private ownership, and the effect of state ownership on observed corporate financial policies. Section 4 summarizes the empirical research examining the intersection of state ownership and finance. This will begin with the literature assessing the rise of sovereign wealth funds, then will survey research examining the efficiency of state owned banks, and will conclude by summarizing research questioning the private and public social welfare implications of political connections between politicians and business executives. Section 5 provides the author's concluding statements.