In the space of five years, the New Zealand Post Office has been transformed into three separate organizations. One is owned by American telecommunication companies, another by an Australian bank, and the third runs as a profitable company. What brought about the transformation of the Post Office and other state-owned organizations? What were the objectives of public sector reform? Have they been achieved?

The restructuring of New Zealand's public sector has had immediate and long-term economic implications, at the same time that changes in the regulatory structure have affected virtually every market. This book looks at one important facet of the restructuring: the commercialization of state trading departments under the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986.

It examines the economic principles underlying the changes, the organizational responses, and the performance outcomes, across a sample of fourteen organizations. There are detailed case studies of CoalCorp, Electricorp, Forestry Corporation, NZ Post, NZ Rail Ltd, Shipping Corporation, State Insurance, and Telecom.

1. This book is essential reading for all those who are interested in the privatization process. Policy makers in New Zealand and Australia, public policy economists and analysts, managers within the organizations themselves, and students of economics and public policy will find it thorough and illuminating.