Praeger Privatization in Latin America: New Roles for the Public and Private Sectors

As import-substitution industrialization yields to increasing market liberalization in Latin America in the 1990s, privatization assigns new roles to both the public and private sectors. After the decade of the debt crisis, a much weakened State will reorient its policy efforts to the difficult issues of limited fiscal and monetary choices, regulation of newly privatized firms, and long-postponed social programs. However, privatization represents a mhallenge for the private sector as much as it is an issue for the public sector. Foreign and domestic capital will be asked to play a critical role in revitalizing battered economies. New players, from penny-capitalists to pension funds, and new institutions, including dramatically altered banking systems and suddenly thriving stock markets, have recently appeared. The changing roles of public and private sectors and the implications of these developments are the focus of this book. About the Author WERNER BAER is a Professor in the Economics Department, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Baer has authored many articles, contributions, and books in English and in Portuguese including The Brazilian Economy: Growth and Development (Praeger, 1989) and U.S. Policy and the Latin American Economies (with D. Coes) (Praeger, 1990). MELISSA H. BIRCH is Associate Professor of Business Administration, the University of Kansas. Dr. Birch has authored many articles and contributions on economics in Latin America.