ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION In the last decade many countries have introduced privatisation programmes. In 1995 the value of state selloffs is reported to have reached a record figure of US$73bn with at least forty-five countries in the process of privatising some industries (Economist, 13 January 1996, p. 5). This figure may exaggerate the degree of true privatisation since some governments choose to describe the sale to the private sector of only a small part of the total shareholding as a privatisation. Nevertheless, there can be no doubting the profound effect of world-wide privatisation on industrial organisation both in the developed and the developing world.
