הפרטה של שירותים חברתיים ותשתיות ממשלה – דעת הציבור בישראל

Public attitudes regarding privatization are important for both political and normative reasons. However, in the Israeli context, this subject has received little attention. The aim of this study is twofold: First, to survey public attitudes in Israel toward privatization of social services and governmental infrastructures both in general and in specific policy areas. Second, to explore the determinants of these public attitudes toward privatization. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in august 2016 among a random sample of 1,142 Israeli adults (age 18 and above). The survey questionnaire was administered through landline and mobile phones. Quantitative analysis of the survey findings was performed using multivariate logistic regression, cross-tabulation, t-tests and descriptive statistics by IBM-SPSS software. Eight explanatory variables were tested: Socio-economic status (SES), level of education, union membership, age, gender, socio-economic views, ethnic group membership and level of religiosity. The researchers defined privatization as the transfer of public assets to private ownership, through sale or lease of public land, infrastructure, and enterprises. After being presented with the above definition, 57% of the respondents supported privatization and 43% opposed it (p<.01). However, breaking down the question to specific policy domains revealed that 62% of respondents objected to privatization of social services, such as healthcare and education, compared to only 43% who express a similarly negative position regarding infrastructures, such as seaports and electricity. With the exception of level of education, all other explanatory variables were found to have a statistically significant effect on attitudes toward privatization as described in the research hypotheses. Non-Jews were twice more likely to oppose privatization than Jews, similar to the effect of union membership versus non-membership. Also, the likelihood that the individual will oppose privatization decreased by about 25%-30% with the increase in the level of his religiosity, socio-economic status, and support for a capitalist world view. Respondents were also asked about their views regarding “partial privatization”, defined as a process in which the operation of the service is transferred to a private operator, but its regulation and finance remain in the hands of the government. 72% of them supported partial privatization in general, but only 38% supported this policy in regard to social services specifically. The findings indicate that public attitudes towards privatization vary considerably depending on the policy area. The findings also suggest that the term “privatization” may have different meanings, and indicate the ambiguity surrounding this concept. Nevertheless, it seems that the Israeli public in general demonstrates a softer stance toward partial privatization as defined in this study. Finally, this study reveals the importance of personal identity variables such as ethnicity and level of religiosity on public attitudes toward a distinct socio-economic policy such as privatization.