| Abstract: | Abstract: There is no universal panacea to improve the efficiency of public enterprises. However there is a worldwide trend at present to place more emphasis on markets than on centrally devised planning. The ownership of public enterprises is examined and it is argued that the performance of public enterprises is related to placing them in a more competitive environment. The importance of industry structure to competition is then discussed. The next sections turn to more practical matters. The first notes the present federal reforms of public enterprises and notes some similarities with the reforms set out in British White Papers in the 1950s and 1960s; and these reforms did not work in the sense of providing greater efficiency. Finally by way of example the deregulation of the NSW egg industry is examined; and the role of the government as a shareholder is discussed in the context of Australian Airlines. The paper concludes with a short summary. |
