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This case study examines the Argentinian privatization process that occurred in the early 1990s and which marked the start of the third phase of the history of public services in the country. The research focusses on the role played by a group of private companies in the privatization of the Buenos Aires Subway, an icon of the modernization of mass passenger transportation. It explores the background to the process, the alternative selling options available to the government and concerning the degree of public control that would be retained. It examines the effects of privatization on the economy of the country, on government debt and on the workers who lost their jobs as a result of the sale. The paper ends by describing the measures were taken during the transition from a bureaucratic management model to an entrepreneurial one.

El caso examina el proceso de privatización en la Argentina a comienzos de los años 90^..s cuando inició la tercera fase en la historia de los servicios públicos de ese país. Se centra en la exploración del proceso de transición hacia un conjunto de empresas privadas del Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, icono de modernización del transporte masivo de pasajeros Explora los antecedentes, las alternativas de venta por parte del gobierno, así como las relacionadas con el grado de control en manos de este último. Explora los efectos sobre la economía del país, la deuda del gobierno y el impacto sobre los trabajadores que no serían contratados luego de la privatización. Termina describiendo los cuidados adoptados en la transición desde una gestión de índole burocrática a otra de carácter empresarial.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the memory of the unexpectedly deceased Professor Luis J. Sanz, president of BALAS and Associate Editor of ARLA. The issue includes six papers from Chile, Spain and Costa Rica/Argentina. The case study is on the privatization of the Buenos Aires underground in 1998, a topic of renewed interest in 2015. One of the studies determines the effect of director education and international experience on the firm’s access to international markets. Another paper studies the effect of corporate board diversity on company reputation. The third analyzes the negative effect of the politicization of State savings banks on the benefits of these financial institutions in Spain. The fourth studies the effect of the diversification strategy and cross-control by shareholder groups on firm value in Chile. Finally, we have a literature review, using meta-analysis methodology, on the relationship between auditor specialization by industry and the structure of audit fees.

Este número especial es dedicado a la memoria del súbitamente fallecido profesor Luis J. Sanz, presidente de BALAS y Editor Asociado de ARLA. Publicamos seis trabajos originados en Chile, España, y Costa Rica/Argentina. El caso trata sobre la privatización del metro de Buenos Aires en 1998, tema de renovada vigencia en 2015. Un estudio determina el efecto de la educación de posgrado y la experiencia internacional de los directores en el nivel de acceso a mercados internacionales de sus empresas. El segundo estudia el efecto de la diversidad en la composición de las juntas directivas sobre la reputación de la empresa. Tercero, se analiza el efecto negativo de la politización de las cajas de ahorros estatales en los beneficios de estas instituciones financieras en España. Cuarto, se estudia el efecto de la estrategia de diversificación y del control cruzado de grupos de accionistas sobre el valor de la empresa en Chile. Finalmente, una revisión de la literatura con metodología de meta análisis sobre la relación entre la estructura de auditores especializados por sector empresarial y la estructura de precios de sus tarifas.

Six research papers are published on this issue: three on finances, two regarding public administration and one on business economy. They come from six countries and ten universities. The first paper analyses the effect of a new platform for transactions in the Colombian stock exchange. The second studies the factors that influence the capital structure of the non‐financial companies that quote in the stock market of Lima. The third studies a sample of Brazilian coffee growers in order to determine the influence of attitudes and behaviours in their price risk management decisions. The fourth studies the relation between financial stress, decentralisation and outsourcing of public local services in Spain, by particularly taking into account the length of the financial stress, the effectiveness of the measures taken to attenuate it and the lapse between the crisis and an answer based on the portion of privatisation and decentralisation of the public services. The fifth explores the Chilean small and medium businesses determinants that from their beginnings are orientated towards the global international market. Lastly, the concepts of marketing services and higher education are used to analyse the evaluations of professors given by Mexican university students. The journal is shifting towards a new electronic platform. It will begin to be trimestral in the year 2015 and will continue to broaden its net of Associate Editors.

En este número publicamos seis artículos de investigación: tres en finanzas, dos en administración pública, y uno en economía de negocios, provenientes de seis países y diez universidades. El primer artículo analiza el efecto de una nueva plataforma para las transacciones en la bolsa de valores de Colombia. El segundo, estudia los factores que influyen en la estructura de capital de las empresas no financieras que cotizan en el mercado de valores de Lima. El tercero, estudia una muestra de cultivadores de café brasileños para determinar la influencia de las actitudes y comportamientos en sus decisiones de gestión del riesgo del precio. El cuarto, estudia la relación entre estrés financiero, descentralización y contratación externa de servicios públicos locales en España, particularmente al enfocarse en la consideración de la duración del estrés financiero, la efectividad de las medidas tomadas para atenuarlo, y el lapso entre la crisis y una respuesta basada en la opción de privatización y descentralización de servicios públicos. El quinto explora los determinantes de que las pequeñas y medianas empresas chilenas desde el principio estén orientadas al mercado global internacional. Finalmente, se utilizan conceptos del mercadeo de servicios y la educación superior para el análisis de las evaluaciones de los profesores por parte de los estudiantes universitarios mexicanos. La revista está migrando a una nueva plataforma electrónica, pasará a ser trimestral en el año 2015 y se continúa ampliando la red de Editores Asociados.

Financial stress features frequently as an explanatory factor in research into decisions concerning the contracting out, or decentralisation, of local public services, though existing empirical studies are not unanimous in their conclusions. The understanding of how financial crises influence these processes could be enhanced by the use of a dynamic methodology that takes into account the following three aspects: the duration of the financial stress, the effectiveness of the action taken and the time‐lag between the crisis and the response. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study introduces three important innovations in the methodology employed to study financial stress: the consideration of the duration of a financial stress episode as a key factor in promoting changes in the provision of public services; the effectiveness of the measures taken; and time‐lag, which takes into account the extended time horizon over which the local authority may implement business‐like and organisational changes.

To date, the techniques used to measure the effects of changes in service delivery methods implemented to alleviate financial stress, have not reflected the true nature of the phenomenon. The results obtained when the new approach proposed in this paper was used to examine Spanish local government responses to financial stress during the period 1999‐2007 confirm that the methodology is well‐judged and effective.

This study reveals that local authorities facing financial stress of two, three or four years’ duration present percentages of decentralisation and contracting‐out that are significantly higher than is the case for local authorities that implement the same processes in response to crises of one year. These findings confirm the need to carry out studies that include the duration of financial crises as a determinant factor in change processes.

El estrés financiero como factor explicativo es una característica recurrente en la investigación sobre la privatización/descentralización de los servicios públicos locales, aunque los estudios empíricos previos no son unánimes en sus conclusiones. Nuestro conocimiento de la influencia de las crisis financieras en estos procesos se podría mejorar mediante el uso de una metodología dinámica que tenga en cuenta los tres aspectos siguientes: la duración de la tensión financiera, el tiempo que transcurre entre la crisis y la respuesta hecha, y la eficacia de esta acción. Al aplicar esta nueva metodología, se demuestra que, hasta la fecha, los métodos utilizados para medir los efectos de los cambios en las formas de prestación de servicios, como un medio de aliviar la tensión financiera, no han reflejado la verdadera naturaleza del fenómeno. Los resultados obtenidos con esta nueva propuesta confirman que la metodología aplicada es la correcta y efectiva en los gobiernos locales españoles para el período 1999‐2007.

This paper builds upon the growing research on both privatization and entrepreneurship and provides a model to predict outcomes of privatization of state‐owned enterprises. Previous research has concentrated on the change in ownership as the principal driver of post‐privatization increases in firm performance and wealth creation. We suggest that structural conditions of the state‐owned enterprise and the privatization process, in combination with characteristics of the new owners, lead to performance changes because they determine the firm’s ability to transform from a state agency to an entrepreneurial organization.

School choice is a global phenomenon with significant variations in terms of conception, design, and viability. In the city of Buenos Aires, State funding to the private sector of education allows for free choice. The purpose of this study is to analyze the values that are at stake in the family process of school choice. I draw on the theory of cultural evolution (Inglehart, 2018) to analyze the interviews. I interviewed 30 parents who live in the city of Buenos Aires and had to choose school for their children. It was possible to infer four categories that condense the materialistic and post-materialistic values: preeminence of materialistic values relative to security and protection; preeminence of materialistic values relative to academic achievement; preeminence of post-materialistic values relative to socialization and preeminence of post-materialistic values relative to political concerns.

Telecommunications was traditionally considered a natural monopoly. However, in 1982 AT&T was required to give up its control of local telephone services. As economies of scale and scope pervade telecommunications services, the neoclassical perfect competition model could not be applied as a benchmark for regulation. Baumol’s theory of contestable markets was referenced in the design of the new telecommunications regulation regime that followed the AT&T divestiture.

This chapter analyzes from a partially first-hand perspective Baumol’s contributions to the economics of telecommunications. After the AT&T breakup, a key issue to address was the access to the so-called last mile of copper wire owned exclusively by the local monopolies. Baumol together with his colleague Gregory Sidak claimed it was necessary to provide access to interconnection to all qualified applicants. Baumol and Willig proposed a pricing rule, which they argued ensures efficiency in the allocation of bottleneck input resources. The so-called parity-pricing formula is presented and discussed.

The developments in the telecommunications industry that took place during the last 25 years are pointed out, particularly the role played in them by mobile phones. Interconnection was also a vital element for them, and Baumol’s contributions are still a point of reference in this area. The chapter concludes with some reflections on Baumol’s methodological views based on personal correspondence.

Purpose – This study identifies the multiple contributions of the Salvadoran women's movement in sustaining mass mobilization under the threat of public health care privatization.

Methodology/approach – A case study methodological approach shows how the emergence of an autonomous women's movement in El Salvador in the late 1980s and early 1990s “spilled over” (Meyer & Whittier, 1994) to assist in the maintenance of the health care campaigns in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Findings – We observed three arenas in which the women's movement played pivotal roles in the anti-health care privatization struggle: (1) women-based organizations; (2) leadership positions within larger coalitions brokering the participation of diverse social sectors; and (3) key advocacy roles inside the state. These three contributions of the women's movement increased the overall level of mobilization and success against health care privatization.

Research limitations – The study centered on one major group of health care consumers. The role of other civic organizations should be examined in future research.

Originality/value of chapter – The study demonstrates that in the era of globalization, women's movements form a critical part of the social movement sector facilitating the construction of large coalitions protecting consumers from neoliberal restructuring in areas such as public health care.

The privatization of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) has significant implications for SOE stakeholders. However, the effects on stakeholders will vary depending on characteristics of the privatization process and the structure of the SOE. This paper identifies privatization process characteristics of wealth creation and wealth distribution, and describes SOE structures on a continuum between government corporation and government agency. The privatization effectiveness for stakeholders is discussed and examples provided for each classification of privatization.

We aim to analyze the early trajectory of Argentine industry from the perspective of uneven and combined development. Argentine integration into the world market based on the export of agricultural goods had not neglected industrial development. At first, Argentine industry benefited from its late emergence and rapidly followed the path of leading countries’ manufactures. But initial advantage soon turned into a liability. The emergence of large-scale industry required expanded markets that were already occupied by older and stronger competitors. The 1930 crisis and the impact of the Second World War aggravated this problem. Attempts to remedy the situation – an export-led industrialization scheme and an internal-market-oriented economy – failed successively. We study this process through the analysis of Argentine industrial chambers’ journals, reports from the United States Department of Foreign Trade and Argentine official government documents. We find that the export-led industrialization project failed because of the weakness of Argentine industries and not because of economic nationalism. That was the outcome of the previous failure of liberal projects and of the international constraints imposed by the Second World War and its aftermath. During this later period of internal-market-oriented economy, the gap between Argentine and international productivity widened. This paper presents an innovative interpretation that transcends liberal and nationalistic explanations and serves as a case study of the implications of uneven and combined development.