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State enterprises in developing countries

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  • Development Policy
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Intereconomics

Abstract

The role of state-owned enterprises in the development process in the Third World is the subject of serious controversy. This article attempts to test empirically whether there is a relationship between the importance of public production in developing countries and their overall economic performance.

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References

  1. Leroy P. Jones: Introduction, in: Leroy P. Jones (ed.): Public Enterprise in Less-Developed Countries, Cambridge 1982, p. 13.

  2. R. P. Short: The Role of Public Enterprises: An International Statistical Comparison, in: International Monetary Fund: Public Enterprise in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects, Washington 1984.

  3. For an overview see, for example, Armeane M. Choski: State Intervention in the Industrialization of Developing Countries: Selected Issues, World Bank Staff Working Paper, No. 341, Washington 1979, pp. 6–12.

  4. For a more detailed elaboration, see Peter Nunnenkamp: Market-Failure versus Government-Failure: On the Role of Public Industrial Enterprises in Developing Countries, in: Vierteljahresberichte des Forschungsinstituts der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, No. 98. December 1984, pp. 347–359.

  5. Charles Wolf jr.: A Theory of Nonmarket Failure: Framework for Implementation Analysis, in: Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 22 (1979), pp. 107–112.

  6. See, for example, Marcus Fleming: External Economies and the Doctrine of Balanced Growth, in: Economic Journal, Vol. 65 (1955), pp. 241–256.

  7. Deepak Lal: Public Enterprises, in John Cody, Helen Hughes, David Wall (eds.): Policies for Industrial Progress in Developing Countries, Oxford 1980, p. 212.

  8. See for example, the contributions in Horst Hanusch (ed.): Anatomy of Government Deficiencies, Berlin 1983.

  9. William A. Niskanen: Bureaucrats and Politicians, in: Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 19 (1976), p. 633.

  10. Harvey Leibenstein: Allocative Efficiency versus X-Efficiency, in: American Economic Review, Vol. 56 (1966), pp. 392–415.

  11. Alan T. Peacock: On the Anatomy of Collective Failure, in: Public Finance, Vol. 35 (1980), pp. 33–43.

  12. James M. Buchanan: From Private Preferences to Public Philosophy: The Development of Public Choice, in: The Economics of Politics, Institute of Economic Affairs, Readings, Vol. 18, London 1978, pp. 13f.

  13. Anne O. Krueger: The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society, in: American Economic Review, Vol. 64 (1974), pp. 291–303.

  14. See the data given in R. P. Short, op. cit. The Role of Public Enterprises: An International Statistical Comparison, in: International Monetary Fund; Public Enterprise in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects. Washington 1984.

  15. For the Indian example, see Peter Nunnenkamp: Die Rolle öffentlicher Industrieunternehmen im Exportsektor Indiens, Schriften des Zentrums für regionale Entwicklungsforschung der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Vol. 30, Hamburg 1985, Table 5.

  16. See R. P. Short, op. cit. The Role of Public Enterprises: An International Statistical Comparison, in: International Monetary Fund: Public Enterprise in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects. Washington 1984. pp. 27f.; Malcolm Gillis: The Role of State Enterprises in Economic Development, Harvard Institute for International Development, Development Discussion Paper, No. 83, Cambridge 1980, pp. 28ff.

  17. See Peter Nunnenkamp: Die Rolle öffentlicher Industrieunternehmen im Exportsektor Indiens, op. cit., Schriften des Zentrums für regionale Entwicklungsforschung der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Vol. 30, Hamburg 1985, Table 5. p. 106.

  18. For adding marketing and institutional aspects to the concept of comparative advantage, see Leroy P. Jones, Lawrence H. Wortzel: Public Enterprise and Manufactured Exports in Less-Developed Countries: Institutional and Market Factors Determining Comparative Advantage, in: Leroy P. Jones (ed.): Public Enterprise in Less-Developed Countries, Cambridge 1982, pp. 217–242.

  19. The exclusion of current government transfers increased the deficits by another percentage point; see R. P. Short, op. cit. The Role of Public Enterprises: An International Statistical Comparison, in: International Monetary Fund: Public Enterprise in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects, Washington 1984. pp. 29ff.

  20. See R. P. Short, op. cit., The Role of Public Enterprises: An International Statistical Comparison, in: International Monetary Fund: Public Enterprise in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects, Washington 1984.

  21. According to World Bank estimates (World Development Report 1985, Washington 1985, p. 62), a significant positive relationship prevailed between growing government deficits and the accumutation of foreign debt.

  22. See World Bank: Borrowing in International Capital Markets: Third Quarter 1979, Washington 1980.

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  1. Institute of World Economics, Kiel

    Peter Nunnenkamp

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  1. Peter Nunnenkamp
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Nunnenkamp, P. State enterprises in developing countries. Intereconomics 21, 186–193 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02925384

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