From private to public to private again: a long-term perspective on nationalization

Pierangelo Toninelli*

 

The article summarizes the main phases of the long-term process of rise and fall of state-owned enterprise (SOE) in the western world. It focuses first on the waves of nationalization that occurred in the last century, addressing the major motives that explained them. Next, moving from the changing environment that opened the way toward the rush to privatization of the last two decades, it dwells on the quantitative dimension of the de-nationalization phenomenon and offers some thoughts on its consequences.

Keywords: state-owned enterprise; nationalization; privatization; regulation.

 

De privado a público e novamente a privado: uma perspectiva de longo prazo sobre a nacionalização

Este artigo sumaria as principais fases do processo de ascensão e declínio a longo prazo das empresas estatais (SOE — state-owned enterprises) no mundo ocidental. Começa-se por analisar as primeiras vagas de nacionalizações ocorridas no século passado, bem como os principais motivos que as explicam. De seguida, passando do contexto de mudança que abriu caminho para a corrida às privatizações das duas últimas décadas, o texto centra-se no aspecto quantitativo do fenómeno de desnacionalização e oferece algumas reflexões sobre as suas consequências.

Palavras-chave: empresa estatal; nacionalização; privatização; regulamentação.

 

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* Dipartimento di Economia Politica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano, Italy. e-mail: pierangelo.toninelli@unimib.it.