Reality Check

“Privatization was one of the key elements that helped to jump-start economic revival in Latin America in the 1990s. But politically, it has always been a difficult sell: Critics claim it rewards the wealthy and the foreign at the expense of the poor and the local. The studies in this book show that this is not the case; privatization’s bad reputation is largely undeserved.” —Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski, Minister of Economy and Finance of Peru

“This book fills an important gap in the privatization literature by documenting its distributional consequences in developing and emerging-market nations. It provides an answer to a key question that has long haunted policymakers and privatization researchers: Why has privatization become so unpopular in developing and emerging economies, when the research clearly shows that privatization ‘works’ economically?” —Bill Megginson, Professor and Rainbolt Chair in Finance, University of Oklahoma

“Privatization continues to be a contentious issue throughout Latin America, and indeed, the world. This volume of careful studies moves the debate from polemic to analysis. It shows that in Latin America at least, privatization has not been a major contributor to the increased inequality seen in the last decade.” —Nora Lustig, President, Universidad de las Américas

“Most studies of privatization look at what happens to companies; this volume looks at what happens to people–workers, consumers, and the disadvantaged–and measures whether they were better or worse off after the transaction. This is progress.” —Joseph Stiglitz, Professor, Columbia University

John Nellis is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Nancy Birdsall is the founding president of the Center for Global Development. Prior to launching the center, Birdsall was senior associate and director of the Economic Reform Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 1993 to 1998, Birdsall was executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank.