Privatization and economic growth in Tunisia : links to democratic institutions -

Abstract

For the past two decades, privatization policies have been a popular mean for tackling economic problems and improving growth rates in developing countries. Although regarded as controversial, the implementation of privatization policies (the transference of economic activity from the public to the private sector) can have fundamental and structural changes when it comes to the dynamism of economic activities in a certain country. The thesis’s take on the topic of privatization policies, unlike the majority of the studies in this field, is from a macro scale. We discuss, at the first stage, the practical experience of Tunisia with privatization, from Ben Ali’s regime to Tunisia post-uprising with regards to the nation’s economic growth, while taking a closer look at the roles of the country’s national debt and foreign direct investment levels in the privatization process. If privatization programs are considered as an effective step to encourage competition in an open market economy, then we may argue that with the privatization process in action, a certain percentage of higher economic growth may be eventually achieved. The second stage of the thesis, will deal with democratic institutions’ interaction with the implementation of privatization programs in Tunisia. Post Ben Ali, the nation went through drastic changes on the economic, political and social levels. Hence, there was the introduction of newly evolved democratic institutions including the guarantee of political rights and civil liberties for all citizens. Our study will shed light on the relation between economic growth and privatization, in the light of democratization process.