Cesare San Mauro  
(“Sapienza” Università di Roma, Italy)

Abstract: Between 2012 and 2016, while the financial crisis was unfolding its effects in Italy and globally, several divestments of Italian State-owned companies were carried out, leading observers to believe that a new season of privatizations — similar to the one carried out in the 1990s — had finally been launched.

However, after the initial considerable divestments announcing the completion of privatization of large public companies, the momentum faded away due to the strong Italian political instability combined with an international trend oriented to nationalism.

The sizeable privatizations launched in 2014-2016, which led to important results in terms of revenue and attraction of investments (including international ones), produced lights and shadows, mainly due to the lack of a long-term roadmap.

In this context, the only constant feature of any privatization strategy in Italy appears to be the feeble and fluctuating trend that — today just like yesterday — prevents the country from fully exploiting the potential implicit in the divestment of large State-owned companies.

Key words: privatization; GDP; public debt

JEL codes: H