Economic and political interactions of disinvestment policy

Abstract

Disinvestment is defined as the transfer of ownership/ control of public sector enterprises from newlinethe government to the private sector. This thesis specifically aims to focus on the political newlineand economic interactions in the decision and implementation of disinvestment policy. It comprises newlineof three core chapters that venture into three specific dimensions of disinvestment policy newlinedecision using theoretical and empirical tools. The three studies specifically encompass how newlinegovernments make disinvestment decisions, what factors drive the decision and the effect of newlinedisinvestment policy in India as a case study. While analysing these issues, the thesis gives newlinespecial attention to coalition driven modern political era and includes it in all steps. As a next newlinestep, since the government is an amalgamation of select political parties, the thesis also weaves newlinethe impact of ideologies of the parties on disinvestment decision and outcomes. The theoretical newlineand empirical results suggest that ideology plays a significant role in explaining selection of newlinefirms for disinvestment and the extent of disinvestment. Further, the effect of disinvestment on newlinefirm performance is also conditioned by the ideology of the state in which the firm operates. newline