1st Edition

Privatization in Malaysia Regulation, Rent-Seeking and Policy Failure

By Jeff Tan Copyright 2008
    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    In recent years, privatisation has fallen out of favour in many countries because the underlying political factors have not been well understood. This book examines Malaysia’s privatisation programme, focusing on how political constraints resulted in the failure of four major privatisations: the national sewerage company (IWK), Kuala Lumpur Light Rail Transit (LRT), national airline (MAS), and national car company (Proton). It considers why developing countries such as Malaysia might want to embark on privatisation, the factors that lead to policy failure, and what is needed to make it work. It shows clearly that political motives driving privatisation often dominate purely economic considerations, and thus it is necessary to analyse privatisation within the specific country context. It argues that failure in the Malaysian case was due to political considerations that compromised institutional design and regulatory enforcement, leading to problems associated with corruption. It concludes that privatisation does not necessarily improve incentives for efficiency or enhance the finance available for capital investment, and that successful privatisation depends on the state’s institutional and political capacity to design and manage an appropriate set of subsidies. Overall, this book is a comprehensive examination of privatisation in Malaysia, providing important insights for understanding the political economy of this process in other developing countries.

    1. Introduction: Why Privatize?  2. Privatization, Rents and Rent Seeking  3. Institutional and Political Failure: Privatization in Malaysia  4. Universal Access and Private Provision: Malaysia’s National Sewerage  5. The Fallacy of Privatized Urban Rail: Kuala Lumpur Light Rail Transit  6. Perverse Incentives: Malaysia Airlines  7. Rents and Industrial Upgrading: Proton  8. Summary and Conclusion

    Biography

    Jeff Tan is an Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for the Studies of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London where he lectures in development studies. He specialises in the political economy of development and his research interests include the privatisation of public utilities and infrastructure, governance and globalisation.

    "This well-written and properly documented study, based on the experience of privatization of some major public enterprises in Malaysia, demolishes the commonly held view that private enterprises are necessarily more efficient than public enterprises and that privatization necessarily improves efficiency...Policy makers will find the study's conclusions useful for formulating plans for privatization, and graduate students in economic development and public administration will also benefit from this study." - J. S. Uppal, SUNY at Albany, CHOICE June 2008 Vol. 45 No. 10