Privatization and its future implications in Libya : a case study of the Libyan National Textile Company

Abdussalam, Saleh (2006) Privatization and its future implications in Libya : a case study of the Libyan National Textile Company. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

This thesis discusses many vital issues related to the Libyan economy in general and the privatization programme in particular. The current study has adopted a triangulation strategy to achieve its objectives including descriptive-analytical and field study approaches. It has relied upon a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews to acquire the necessary data. The most important reason for relying on these two methods was primarily due to lack of information on the subject of this study. The study addresses the main barriers that impede the successful progress of the privatization programme in Libya. In this regard, the 21 factories of the Libyan National Textile Company (LNTC) were selected as a case study, through which the disadvantages inherent in the privatization programme have been exposed. Moreover, in a comparative analysis, the field survey included 40 New Private Firms (NPFs) initially owned by the private sector. In this context, the hedonic technique has been applied in order to make comparison between the two groups of firms in terms of their performance and profit maximization. This study specifically addresses both the administrative and the economic aspects of privatization, raising the following three main questions concerning the status of privatization in the context examined, and the factors influencing the outcomes observed: (1) Has the privatization programme been a success or a failure and what have been the main underlying reasons? (2) To what extent were the attitudes of managers and workers in privatized factories a barrier to the smooth implementation of privatization? (3) What are the main prerequisites for a successful privatization programme in Libya? Among the major findings of this study are that privatization in Libya had been negatively influenced by many fundamental problems prevailing at both the micro and macro economic levels. In particular, as found from the application of the hedonic technique, the NPFs have been more successful in attaining profit- maximization than the LNTC. This is particularly worrying as the latter group were privatized well over 15 years ago with a resulting much larger share of the market.

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