scholarly journals Is the Private Sector more Productive than the Public Sector?

1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (4II) ◽  
pp. 721-729
Author(s):  
Khwaja Sarmad

In developing countries the rapid growth of the public sector during the past few decades was viewed as an important means for accelerating the pace of economic growth. In most developing countries the public sector now accounts for a prominent share of total production and investment. But the contribution of the public sector to growth has been much below expectations. In many cases public enterprises require large subsidies from the government and impose a significant fiscal burden on the economy, which leads to the notion that the private sector is much more productive than the public sector. However, little empirical work has been done in this field so that the proposals that emphasize the private sector vis-a-vis the public sector rest largely on theoretical considerations. Recent work by Khan and Reinhart (1990) is an important exception. Using cross-section data for the seventies of 24 developing countries they show that the arguments favouring the private sector in adjustment programmes have empirical support. Khan and Reinhart estimate a growth model in which the effect of private and public investment on growth is separated. A comparison of the marginal productivities of the two types of investment allows them to conclude that "all in all, there does seem to be some merit in the key role assigned to private investment in the development process by supporters of market -based strategies". [Khan and Reinhart (1990), p. 25.]

Author(s):  
Satinder Bhatia

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects have been gaining in popularity in many developing countries along with developed countries. While there has been sufficient research on private sector capacity to make the partnership successful, not much research exists on the importance of the financial health of the public sector in PPP projects. The premise of the current research is that strong public sector finances instil confidence in the private sector of governments’ ability to honour PPP commitments and that, in turn, increases the attractiveness of PPP projects. Through a number of case studies relating to government finances of Indian states and other countries, it is seen that governments which have checks and balances to issuance of guarantees and other forms of indirect support for PPP projects are actually able to attract higher levels of PPP investment.


1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (4I) ◽  
pp. 419-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsin S. Khan

There has been a sea change in the views of the economics profession as well as economic policy-makers over the past decade or so regarding the role of the government in the development process. Indeed, it is now becoming conventional wisdom that government can no longer be a dominant player in economic activities, but rather should restrict itself to providing an “enabling” environment within which the private sector can take the lead and flourish. More specifically, government intervention in the economy has to be designed carefully so as to support the private sector and not inhibit its development. The general acceptance of this paradigm is evident in the steadily declining importance of government activities in the economies of most of the developing world. But does this new paradigm mean that government investment has no role whatsoever in affecting growth in developing countries? Reality is that public investment still represents a large share of total investment in the majority of developing countries, and the question is what role it plays in relation to private investment in stimulating economic growth. The objective of this paper is to ascertain empirically for a large group of developing countries the relative importance of public and private investment in promoting and sustaining growth.


Author(s):  
Rhoda Joseph

This chapter examines the use of big data in the public sector. The public sector pertains to government-related activities. The specific context in this chapter looks at the use of big data at the country level, also described as the federal level. Conceptually, data is processed through a “knowledge pyramid” where data is used to generate information, information generates knowledge, and knowledge begets wisdom. Using this theoretical backdrop, this chapter presents an extension of this model and proposes that the next stage in the pyramid is vision. Vision describes a future plan for the government agency or business, based on the current survey of the organization's environment. To develop these concepts, the use of big data is examined in three different countries. Both opportunities and challenges are outlined, with recommendations for the future. The concepts examined in this chapter are within the constraints of the public sector, but may also be applied to private sector initiatives pertaining to big data.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Virzi ◽  
Juan Portillo ◽  
Mariela Aguirre

The chapter will be a case study from an Ordoliberal perspective of the conception, implementation and policy output of the newly created Private Council of Competitiveness (PCC) in Guatemala, a country wracked by mistrust of the public sector by the private sector. The PCC was founded as a private sector initiative, in conjunction with academia, to work with the government to spawn new efforts aimed at augmenting Guatemala's national competitiveness, by fomenting innovation, entrepreneurship and closer ties between academia and the public and private sectors. The chapter utilizes first hand interviews with the members of the PCC and key public sector players, academics, and other top representatives from the private sector to show how working together built the trust necessary to make the PCC a successful working body with the potential to produce important initiatives in matters of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
George Nwangwu

Nigeria, like most countries around the world, has turned to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to finance its infrastructure deficit. However, it appears that the government of Nigeria looks towards PPPs as the major solution to the country’s infrastructure crisis. In a sense PPPs are being sold to the public as if they were free, that the private sector would come in with its funds, provide the desired services and that the problem with the country’s infrastructure would automatically cease. This paper argues that this supposition is a myth and that the role of PPPs in the provision of public infrastructure is more nuanced than is being bandied around. PPPs are not the panacea to all of the country’s infrastructure problems and also are far from being completely free. It is however the case that if appropriately deployed, in most cases PPPs provide some advantages over conventional public sector procurements. This paper explores the different advantages and disadvantages of PPPs and suggests ways in which PPPs may be effectively used to improve the country’s infrastructure with reduced fiscal exposure to government.


Author(s):  
Yousif Abdullatif Albastaki ◽  
Adel Ismail Al-Alawi ◽  
Sara Abdulrahman Al-Bassam

Although knowledge is recognized as a very important element of any business, the public sector does not fully explore the depth of the knowledge management (KM) as compared to private sector business. As days are passing by, public sector business has also started to realize the importance of KM. The public sector is a business that is run by the government. This sector includes organizations like government cooperation, enterprises, militaries, education, health, and related departments public services. In the public sector, the managers have started to adopt and develop practices of KM. Government organizations are facing many challenges to adapt and engage themselves in an electronic work environment. Over the years KM has grown and has been in continuous change in the public sector and has become essential to any organization in the world. Managers have been looking for a more futuristic approach for the past years. The purpose of this chapter examines the ongoing change in KM in the public sector and tackles the gap in the literature.


1999 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kindra Ramble

The Oklahoma City bombing put a sensational face on antigovernment violence. Yet, for all of the attention devoted during its aftermath to the growth and possible consequences of antigovernment sentiments, little systematic investigation has been done regarding the extent to which this type of violence may have permeated the government workplace. Further, scholars presently lack contextual knowledge about potential differences between public sector and private sector workplace violence in which to place hypotheses concerning the connections between antigovernment sentiments and the violent victimization of government employees. This article probes those connections through a study of the workplace violence endured by rangers of the United States Forest Service, in hopes of contributing to the understanding of the complicated relationships between workplace violence, antigovernment activity, and employment in the public sector. Analysis of the violent incidents uncovered through this study lends support to the conclusion that violence waged against government employees is significantly different than the violence being perpetrated in private sector work settings. These findings further suggest that antigovernment activity contributes meaningfully to the differences in workplace violence experienced by government employees.


Big Data ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 2149-2163
Author(s):  
Rhoda Joseph

This chapter examines the use of big data in the public sector. The public sector pertains to government-related activities. The specific context in this chapter looks at the use of big data at the country level, also described as the federal level. Conceptually, data is processed through a “knowledge pyramid” where data is used to generate information, information generates knowledge, and knowledge begets wisdom. Using this theoretical backdrop, this chapter presents an extension of this model and proposes that the next stage in the pyramid is vision. Vision describes a future plan for the government agency or business, based on the current survey of the organization's environment. To develop these concepts, the use of big data is examined in three different countries. Both opportunities and challenges are outlined, with recommendations for the future. The concepts examined in this chapter are within the constraints of the public sector, but may also be applied to private sector initiatives pertaining to big data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fakije Zejnullahu ◽  
Indrit Baholli

Abstract Use of Innovation of ICT in activities of the public sector, referred to as e-Government, has helped governments to improve their services to citizens, to businesses and to government units by making them more qualitative and easily accessible. The initiative of e-Government in Kosovo was identified as a priority of the government in 2008 and since then a number of projects have been implemented, amongst them the System for Electronic Archiving of Document (SEAD). Since the partial or full failure of implementation of e-government projects is very frequent phenomenon in developing countries, the identification of success and failure factors of projects is necessary in order to address them on time. In this study are assessed the level of success of implementation of SEAD and are identified the critical success and failure factors of this system through seven dimensions ITPOSMO by using the Design Reality Gap Analysis. By measuring the design-reality gap across seven dimensions, we have assessed the success of the implementation of SEAD, which scored 18.05. Results from this study indicate that if no action is taken to reduce the size of gaps, particularly the gap in dimensions “Processes” and “Staffing and Skills”, project risks falling in the category “Partial Failure”. Findings from this research will serve to reduce the risks that may affect the successful implementation of e-governance in Republic of Kosovo, and also will serve other researchers in identifying the failure and success factors of e-Government in developing countries.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Boyer

In the assessment of the cost of public funds, there is a pervasive economic fallacy that is frequently repeated in public policy circles: because the cost of borrowing is higher for a private-sector firm than it is for a public-sector firm, the cost of carrying out an activity (investment, production, distribution, provision of goods and services, and borrowing) will necessarily be lower ceteris paribus in the public sector than in the private sector. The statement is erroneous because part of the government’s cost of borrowing, namely the risk borne by citizens, customers, and taxpayers, is hidden from the casual observer of market interest rates or yields. The all-inclusive borrowing cost, more generally the all-inclusive cost of capital, is the same for both the public and the private sectors. I discuss four specific real cases in which the error is present: the Quebec Generations Fund, the Québec CDPQ Infra–Réseu express métropolitain project, the Infrastructure Ontario methodology to assess the riskiness of costs, and the BC Hydro Site C hydroelectric megaproject. I also discuss a general fifth case, namely government support programs for businesses (grants, loans, guarantees, subsidies, etc.), which are generally justified on the fallacious claim that the cost of financing is lower for the government than for the private sector. I propose an auction process by which the true cost of business support programs could be made transparent. I conclude with an appeal for a more rigorous use and management of public funds because miscalculation, misinformation, mismanagement, and fallacious analysis will eventually backfire.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document