Constitutional Barriers and the Privatization of Public Utilities in Rich Democracies

This paper examines the impact of constitutional barriers on the privatization of public utilities in 21 OECD-countries between 1980 and 2008. We present new and improved indicators for privatization and constitutional barriers. Three empirical findings stand out: first, national privatization trajectories differ across both countries and sectors. Second, there is a significant cross-national variation in terms of constitutional provisions related to public utilities which, thirdly, constitute important impediments to privatization.