ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the definition of privatization and establishes the objectives of privatization activities. It outlines explicitly documented objectives, as well as other nonexplicit privatization objectives. The chapter focuses on contracting out and enterprise sales as two influential modalities of privatization in contemporary public sector reform. Competition as a part of the privatization philosophy is a case in point. The objectives of privatization, however defined, are intimately bound up with the political, social, and economic agenda of government. The principle objective of privatization should be to increase economic efficiency. Surprisingly, little definitive information is available documenting the extent of privatization globally, and estimates differ wildly. In terms of the sale of enterprises, the decade of the 1980s also saw privatization grow in a spectacular way. A frenzy of privatization activity has dominated newspaper headlines and commanded a high public profile following early British asset sales.
