Comparing privatization characteristics in former communist, developing, and developed countries

Privatization of state-owned enterprises has become an important tool of economic policy, especially in the economic advancement of developing and former communist countries. The effective outcome of privatization deals depends, among other things, on the conditions of the privatization process and the host country. T. P. Murtha and S. A. Lenway state that “public and private choices interact to influence whether and where multinational corporations invest in firm-specific intangible assets and where and when they commit capital to product-specific assets that preempt competitors”. In the past, research on privatization has examined the process of privatization in individual countries or regions. From these individualized examinations, attempts were made to draw generalizable conclusions about the characteristics of privatization processes. Scholars of strategy and international business have examined the characteristics of total vs. partial international acquisitions, and the conditions under which each type may be most efficient.