Privatization And Employment: A Study Of The Jute Industry In Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of privatization upon employment in the Bangladeshi jute textile industry. Privatization was partia and the selection of mills which were privatized was not based on current economic performance. This provides us with a panel data set which permits reliable estimates of the effects of ownership on employment and output. Privatization has reduced employment of all categories of permanent workers significantly, but the extent of employment reduction has been substantially greater among clerical workers and managers as compared to manual workers. This implies that public sector excess employment benefited white-collar workers, who were both better off and better educated, and suggests that public sector behaviour was clientelist rather than welfarist.