INTERNATIONAL LIBERALIZATION POLICY. POLITICAL-SCIENTIFIC FACTORS IMPACTING THE PROCESS OF DENATIONALIZATION

Since the 1980s almost all OECD and EU states have implemented policies of liberalization and denationalization. This study offers a model for explaining this phenomenon by regarding it as a process of policy convergence. The determinants and causal mechanisms driving the proliferation of privatization policy are identified with the help of convergence mechanisms proposed by the sciences and then analytically evaluated and interpreted with regression analyses of two independent, quantitative studies. The results identify independent problem-solving, peer pressure and international harmonization as the most important causal mechanisms. Membership of the EU is shown to be a strong privatization factor, and on the OECD level, party affiliation of the government is identified as an important intervening variable.