Recent decades have seen a wave of liberalisation and privatization of
public services in Europe (Hermann and Mahnkopf, 2010). The
promotion of liberalisation and more indirectly also of privatisation of
public services has been one of the core political projects of the European
Union since the 1990s. It has been justified by the expectation that the
creation of new markets would lead to greater efficiency and would
contribute both to economic growth and social wealth. Since 2000, the
advanced liberalisation policy of growing parts of public services has also
become a core element of the Lisbon strategy, which aims “to make the
European Union the most competitive and dynamic economic area in the
world – an economic area which is able to link sustainable economic
growth with more and better jobs and a stronger social cohesion”
(Torsten & Schulten, 2008).
However, there has been little evidence on the impact that these
phenomena have on employment and productivity from a cross-country
perspective. In addition, affordable high-quality public services are an
important component of the European Social Model. The objectives of an
open and competitive internal market and of developing high quality,
accessible and affordable services of general interest have so far been
regarded as compatible. This policy brief contains main observations on
the impact of privatization and liberalization. Yet, research in the area
remains scarce.
To address the above mentioned issues in the literature, this dissertation
focuses on the impact of liberalization and privatization on employment,
productivity and the quality of public services by analyzing the new
labour relations regime of the postal sector. For the purposes of the
current study. in particular, the case of Hellenic Post – ELTA of the
postal sector in Greece has been selected. The methodology employed is
the qualitative approach (in depth interviews and case studies), which
was considered as more appropriate and feasible, since it was our aim to
seek deep insight into organizational members’ perspective and the
IHU - EMBA 2009-2010 Dissertation “Liberalization and Privatization of the Postal
Sector – The case of Hellenic Post - ELTA”
Dimitra Lagou – George Vekiaris Page 4
experience they have had, associated with privatization and liberalization
of the postal sector.
Our results indicate that 1) the liberalisation and privatisation of public
postal services have led to a fundamental transformation of the
established labour-relations’ regimes in the public sector with farreaching
consequences for employment and working conditions 2)
liberalized sectors that have already achieved a high degree of market
competition. 3) from an employee’s point of view, there is a strong belief
that liberalization and privatization primarily threaten established
standards and lead to a significant deterioration of pay levels and working
conditions. As such, the current research provides several theoretical and
managerial implications for academics and practitioners alike, while
putting forward key messages and recommendations for policy makers.
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