Minorities and Privatization: Economic Mobility at Risk

This timely and important study identifies the effects of municipal privatization on blacks and Hispanics. The author examines three fundamental issues: how privatization affects minority employment in municipal government; how it affects minority employment in the resulting private sector positions; and how it affects city contracting among minority-owned businesses. Contents: Introduction; Privatization in Theory and Practice; The Impact of Privatization on Minority Employment in Government; The Impact of Privatization on Minority Employment in the Private Sector; The Impact of Privatization on Minority Business Opportunities; Recommendations.

This timely and important study identifies the effects of municipal privatization on blacks and Hispanics. The author examines three fundamental issues: how privatization affects minority employment in municipal government; how it affects minority employment in the resulting private sector positions; and how it affects city contracting among minority-owned businesses.

Robert Suggs, former Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Political Studies, is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Arizona.