Regarding the eff ectiveness of privatization, two schools of thought are distinguished:
a school in favor of privatization in general and a school that judges the
success of privatization to be dependent on the institutional context. Th is article
discusses the arguments of both schools and presents a case study on the privatization
processes that did take place in Kosovo. Th e Kosovo case is a critical case as
Kosovo was a post-confl ict country with a deplorable institutional setting at the
time it initiated the privatization processes. If privatization was successful anyway,
this would make for a strong argument in favor of privatization in general.
Th e outcomes of the case study show, however, many unintended and negative
eff ects of privatization in the Kosovo context. Th e conclusion, therefore, disputes
the claim that privatization is benefi cial in general, irrespective of the institutional
setting. Instead, the article makes a plea for creating a favorable institutional setting
before starting far-reaching transformations through large-scale privatization.
Th e issues arising from this article are important for policy-makers and international
missions considering implementing similar programs to other postconfl
ict countries.