The Efficiency and Labour Market Impact Have Varied Across Sectors
The Efficiency and Labour Market Impact Have Varied Across Sectors
sectors, efficiency gains, defined as improved performance
of the company, have been generally achieved with wide
variations in performance across firms and countries. The
same is less true for the utilities sector, with the exception of
telecommunications where spectacular gains have been
recorded because of the quasi parallel introduction of GSM
competition. After the 1997 privatisation of restructured CI- Télécom in Côte d’Ivoire, three cellular operators entered
in the market. Between 2001 and 2004 operating costs per
line decreased by almost 50 per cent, and turnover rose
by 70 per cent.
The counterpart of the gains in efficiency and much of the
reason for opposition to privatisation is the fear of massive
lay-offs. The evidence, however, is less clear. The
competitive sectors generally experienced a significant
decrease of employment in the year of privatisation, which
was then followed by a stable period and an upward trend
in the two years following the launch of a privatisation
plan. Examples of this pattern occurred in Tanzania and
Mozambique. In public utilities, however, large-scale layoffs
have been widespread as the combination of
considerable overstaffing and insufficient training seriously
limited efficiency. Consequently, job redundancies have
been particularly severe in the power sector, while water
mostly remained under strong public control.
To soften the impact on employment, under public opinion
pressure, some national authorities have become more
attentive to job preservation during the privatisation process.
In Zambia and Burkina Faso, for instance, the retention of
existing staff became an explicit criterion with which private
investors had to comply. In the case of the privatised water
company of Guinea, employees have been redeployed in
subcontractor companies2. As a cushion against the negative
social impact of job redundancies, some Southern African
governments have negotiated severance packages in cooperation
with companies and trade unions.
by Lucia Wegner
Privatisation: A Challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa
This Policy Insights is derived from the special theme section
of the 2003 African Economic Outlook and on a 2004 OECD Development Centre Study
The Efficiency and Labour Market Impact Have Varied Across Sectors - To learn more about this author, visit OECD Development Centre's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
In the competitive manufacturing and tradable services
sectors, efficiency gains, defined as improved performance
of the company, have been generally achieved with wide
variations in performance across firms and countries. The
same is less true for the utilities sector, with the exception of
telecommunications where spectacular gains have been
recorded because of the quasi parallel introduction of GSM
competition. After the 1997 privatisation of restructured CI- Télécom in Côte d’Ivoire, three cellular operators entered
in the market. Between 2001 and 2004 operating costs per
line decreased by almost 50 per cent, and turnover rose
by 70 per cent.
The counterpart of the gains in efficiency and much of the
reason for opposition to privatisation is the fear of massive
lay-offs. The evidence, however, is less clear. The
competitive sectors generally experienced a significant
decrease of employment in the year of privatisation, which
was then followed by a stable period and an upward trend
in the two years following the launch of a privatisation
plan. Examples of this pattern occurred in Tanzania and
Mozambique. In public utilities, however, large-scale layoffs
have been widespread as the combination of
considerable overstaffing and insufficient training seriously
limited efficiency. Consequently, job redundancies have
been particularly severe in the power sector, while water
mostly remained under strong public control.
To soften the impact on employment, under public opinion
pressure, some national authorities have become more
attentive to job preservation during the privatisation process.
In Zambia and Burkina Faso, for instance, the retention of
existing staff became an explicit criterion with which private
investors had to comply. In the case of the privatised water
company of Guinea, employees have been redeployed in
subcontractor companies2. As a cushion against the negative
social impact of job redundancies, some Southern African
governments have negotiated severance packages in cooperation
with companies and trade unions.
by Lucia Wegner
Privatisation: A Challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa
This Policy Insights is derived from the special theme section
of the 2003 African Economic Outlook and on a 2004 OECD Development Centre Study
The Efficiency and Labour Market Impact Have Varied Across Sectors - To learn more about this author, visit OECD Development Centre's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to OECD's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Entrepreneur Flight Manual Conversations of Leadership Social Bookmarking Guide Maslow For Entrepreneurs Profitable Blog Guide |
|
 | ||
 |
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity | |
 |
Top 50 Franchising Blogs
Top 50 Franchising Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
