Public Enterprise in Practice: The British Experience of Nationalisation during the Past Decade

Abstract

Public corporations and their subsidiaries now account for some 131/2 per cent of the UK’s gross domestic product. Several of the undertakings have only recently been transferred to the public sector (shipbuilding, airframe manufacture, British Leyland and water), and others are too small to warrant attention. This paper will discuss the performance of electricity, telephones, coal, British Rail and the other major nationalised industries which appear in Table 12.1. They contribute about 91/2 per cent of the GDP, whereas companies and unincorporated businesses are responsible for 61 per cent.