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Privatising national oil companies: Assessing the impact on firm performance

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  • Christian Wolf
  • Michael G. Pollitt

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the impact of privatisation on firm performance in the global oil and gas industry, where questions of resource control have regained widespread attention. Using a dataset of 60 public share offerings by 28 National Oil Companies it is shown that privatisation is associated with comprehensive and sustained improvements in performance and efficiency. Over the seven-year period around the initial privatisation offering, return on sales increases by 3.6 percentage points, total output by 40%, capital expenditure by 47%, and employment intensity drops by 35%. Many of our observed performance improvements are already realised in anticipation of the initial privatisation date, accrue over time, and level off after the initial ownership change rather than accelerate. Details of residual government ownership, control transfer, and size and timing of follow-on offerings provide limited incremental explanatory power for firm performance, except for employment intensity. Based on these results partial privatisations in the oil sector might be seen to capture a significant part of the performance improvement associated with private capital markets without the selling government having to cede majority control.
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Suggested Citation

  • Christian Wolf & Michael G. Pollitt, 2008. "Privatising national oil companies: Assessing the impact on firm performance," Working Papers EPRG 0805, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg0805
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter R. Hartley and Kenneth B. Medlock III, 2013. "Changes in the Operational Efficiency of National Oil Companies," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    2. Pollitt, Michael G., 2012. "The role of policy in energy transitions: Lessons from the energy liberalisation era," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 128-137.
    3. Megginson, William L., 2017. "Privatization, State Capitalism, and State Ownership of Business in the 21st Century," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 11(1-2), pages 1-153, November.
    4. Wolf, C. & Pollitt, M.G., 2009. "The Welfare Implications of Oil Privatisation: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Norway’s Statoil," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0912, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Al-Mana, Ali A. & Nawaz, Waqas & Kamal, Athar & Koҫ, Muammer, 2020. "Financial and operational efficiencies of national and international oil companies: An empirical investigation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Cabrales, Sergio & Bautista, Rafael & Benavides, Juan, 2017. "A model to assess the impact of employment policy and subsidized domestic fuel prices on national oil companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 566-578.
    7. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2020. "The diffusion of a policy innovation in the energy sector: evidence from the collective switching case in Europe," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 680-704, June.
    8. Wolf, Christian, 2009. "Does ownership matter? The performance and efficiency of State Oil vs. Private Oil (1987-2006)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2642-2652, July.
    9. Weijermars, Ruud, 2009. "Accelerating the three dimensions of E&P clockspeed - A novel strategy for optimizing utility in the Oil & Gas industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(10), pages 2222-2243, October.
    10. Wolf, C, 2008. "Does Ownership Matter? The Performance and Efficiency of State Oil vs. Private Oil (1987-2006)," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0828, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. Cardinale, Roberto, 2019. "The profitability of transnational energy infrastructure: A comparative analysis of the Greenstream and Galsi gas pipelines," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 347-357.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Privatisation; ownership; corporate performance; anticipation; oil and gas industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • L71 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels
    • M20 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - General
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

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