Examining the Determinants of Privatization: The ASEAN Context

Abstract

This paper examines the economic, political, and institutional determinants of the propensity of privatization, as well as the sensitivity of privatization, in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) context over the observation period from 1988 to 2008, with the Asian Financial Crisis being the median point of the observation period. This is particularly to investigate the organic progression of the privatization of ASEAN nations as an isolated endogenous phenomenon. This paper, using a two-stage quantitative technique, aims to exhibit the novel, and to a degree inventive, insights that are unique to the context of ASEAN, as well as to identify the potential policy implications directed towards how ASEAN policymakers may steer their national development policies to manufacture the constructive economic, political, and institutional conditions needed to foster privatization processes. The findings indicate that GDP per capita, current account balance, and stock market capitalization are statistically the key moving parts that contribute to the propensity of privatization, as well as the sensitivity of privatization, in the ASEAN context.