ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The 1970s saw a resurgence of the notion that transferring assets from the public sector to private enterprise would raise both allocative and technical efficiency, leading to greater economic well-being. The intellectual argument in support of this idea linked performance to ownership:
privatization involves more than the simple transfer of ownership. It involves the transfer and redefinition of a complex bundle of property rights which creates a whole new penalty-reward system which will alter the incentives in the firm and ultimately its performance.
