Secondary Privatisation: Summary and Lessons Learned

Abstract

In this book we investigated the phenomenon of ‘secondary privatisation’ — that is, the post-privatisation evolution of the ownership structures defined in the initial privatisation — in three transition economies (the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia) in the years 1995-1999. Our research covered companies that were privatised under various privatisation schemes which established ownership structures whose nature was heavily determined by privatisation policy rather than by market forces. These included management-employee buyout and mass privatisation programmes in which employees or citizens were given the right to acquire shares at prices significantly below market value.