How Governments Privatize: The Politics of Divestment in the United States and Germany (American Government Series) - Tapa dura

This study of two successful divestment agencies - the US Resolution Trust Corporation and the German Treuhandanstalt - presents a complex understanding of the two agencies' performance in privatizing hundreds of billions of dollars of assets following two very different crises, the savings and loan debacle in the US and unification in Germany. Cassell argues that privatization must be understood as a political and administrative puzzle rather than simply an exercise in economic efficiency. He identifies the importance and effects of managerial structures, including market-based administrative reforms, and of national institutions - legislatures and executives - on the outcomes of the reform efforts. This book is an important contribution to public administration, public policy and comparative political economy.