ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes a conceptual framework upon which the performance of privatized activities or enterprises may be assessed. It presents a useful conceptual framework by combining knowledge of the theoretical models, the objectives specified for privatization, and the underlying principles and values associated with traditional public sector work. One particular issue, about defining performance following privatization, concerns the extent to which private enterprises within an economy operate under different values from public sector activities. The chapter presents performance in terms of the values of service provision traditionally sought through public sector activities. Such values include, for example, equity and democracy. The processes of government and of private business have fundamentally different values underpinning them. The values underlying the economic dimension clearly contrast those underlying the democratic dimension. Each of the broader dimensions will need to be included in any assessment of the performance of privatization, along with those dimensions drawn from theory or from nominated objectives.
