ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The research on privatisation and performance reported in this book is based on a study of eleven organisations that were privatised before 1989 in the UK. These organisations account for the largest part of the total asset sales undertaken before 1989, the year chosen as a cut-off date to allow for sufficient time after privatisation to comment usefully on its impact. Readers should note that the electricity and water utilities are therefore excluded from our study since their privatisation occurred between 1989 and 1991. The study does include, however, the telecommunications and gas industries and the British Airports Authority (BAA), which were privatised as regulated enterprises. British Airways (BA) is also in the eleven companies and BA remains regulated in terms of certain aspects of its services (but not profits) by the airlines regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority. The eleven enterprises studied are: BA, BAA, Britoil, British Gas, British Steel, British Aerospace, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, National Freight Consortium (NFC), Associated British Ports (ABP) and British Telecom (BT). Table 2.1 provides the dates when each of the organisations was privatised. In all cases the date shown is that on which the first share issue occurred. In a number of cases the government sold the shares in tranches over time, though in all cases the govern-ment ceased to interfere in the management of the firms from the first sale date. That date can, therefore, be taken as the effective privatisation date.
