Globalization, privatization, and public administration : a case study of Lebanese structural adjustment programs after Paris III -

Abstract

Critics of globalization often point to the role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) as a key component of the phenomena. To these critics IFIs use conditions embedded in development loans to force countries to adopt polices they otherwise would not have. One of the most controversial of loan condition policies is privatization of state owned enterprise. Lebanon agreed to such conditions following the Paris III donor conference of 2007. Since then, though, the sate has fallen into noncompliance. This thesis uses a case study approach to test the assumptions of the power of IFIs in forcing policy implementation, asking what factors led to the noncompliance of the agreed structural adjustment reforms following Paris III? Lebanon is viewed as a single case with the proposed privatizations of the electric and mobile telecommunications sectors as units of analysis. Utilizing a modified version of grounded theory methodology on data collected through key informant interviews, this research found that the ability of IFIs to force policy is limited and that the original loan conditions are often more collaborative than dictatorial.