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On the Causes of Soft Budget Constraints: Firm-Level Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania

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Author Info
Greetje Everaert
Antje Hildebrandt

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Abstract

Several theoretical explanations for the presence of soft budget constraints have recently been put forward in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test these theories on the causes of soft budget constraints. We therefore use a panel data set, consisting of company account data for Bulgarian and Romanian manufacturing firms, covering the period 1996-1990. Our results suggest that the probability of finding soft budget constraints importantly depends on the degree of competition within the sector and on the ownership of the firm. Ownership structure in Bulgaria however, has no additional explanatory power once firms are loss-making. We further find that socio-political concerns about employment increase the probability of SBC's, but only when firms are loss-making. Thus, our empirical results largely confirm the hypotheses that competition, privatisation and firm size matter in explaining soft budget constraints, as suggested in the theoretical models on the causes of soft budget constraints.

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File URL: http://www.econ.kuleuven.ac.be/licos/dp/Dp2001/DP109.pdf
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Paper provided by LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven in its series LICOS Discussion Papers with number 10901.

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Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: 2001
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Handle: RePEc:lic:licosd:10901

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Related research
Keywords: Soft Budget Constraints; Competition; Privatisation; Transition;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
P31 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions
P35 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Public Finance
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Konings, Jozef, 1997. "Competition and Firm Performance in Transition Economies: Evidence from Firm Level Surveys in Slovenia, Hungary and Romania," CEPR Discussion Papers 1770, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Bai, Chong-en & Wang, Yijiang, 1998. "Bureaucratic Control and the Soft Budget Constraint," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 41-61, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Perotti, E. C., 1998. "Inertial credit and opportunistic arrears in transition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1703-1725, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Jozef Konings & Hylke Vandenbussche, 2004. "The adjustment of financial ratios in the presence of soft budget constraints: evidence from Bulgaria," European Accounting Review, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 131-159, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Bertero, Elisabetta & Rondi, Laura, 2000. "Financial pressure and the behaviour of public enterprises under soft and hard budget constraints: evidence from Italian panel data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 73-98, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Majumdar, Sumit K., 1998. "Slack in the state-owned enterprise: An evaluation of the impact of soft-budget constraints," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 377-394, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Qian, Yingyi & Xu, Chenggang, 1998. "Innovation and Bureaucracy under Soft and Hard Budget Constraints," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 65(1), pages 151-64, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Schaffer, Mark E., 1998. "Do Firms in Transition Economies Have Soft Budget Constraints? A Reconsideration of Concepts and Evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 80-103, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Qian, Yingyi & Roland, Gerard, 1998. "Federalism and the Soft Budget Constraint," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1143-62, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2000. "Competition and Firm Performance: Lessons from Russia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 296, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Greetje Everaert & Hylke Vandenbussche, 2001. "Does Protection Harden Budget Constraints?," LICOS Discussion Papers 9801, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-46, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Dewatripont, M & Maskin, E, 1995. "Credit and Efficiency in Centralized and Decentralized Economies," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 62(4), pages 541-55, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Li, David D. & Liang, Minsong, 1998. "Causes of the Soft Budget Constraint: Evidence on Three Explanations," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 104-116, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Haizhou Huang & Chenggang Xu, 1999. "Institutions, Innovations, and Growth," IMF Working Papers 99/34, International Monetary Fund.
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  18. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Simeon Djankov & Bernard Hoekman, 2000. "Market discipline and corporate efficiency: evidence from Bulgaria," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 33(1), pages 190-212, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ralph de Haas & Marga Peeters, 2004. "The Dynamic Adjustment towards Target capital Structures of Firms in," DNB Staff Reports (discontinued) 123, Netherlands Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. R.T.A. de Haas & H.M.M. Peeters, 2004. "Firms' dynamic adjustment to target capital structures in transition economies," WO Research Memoranda (discontinued) 761, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  3. Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2008. "The Emergence of Regional Policy in Bulgaria: regional problems, EU influences and domestic constraints," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 15, Hellenic Observatory, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  4. R.T.A. de Haas & H.M.M. Peeters, 2004. "Firms' Dynamic Adjustment to Target Capital Structures in Transition Economies," Finance 0405014, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  5. Nikolay Nenovsky & Evgeni Peev & Todor Yalamov, 2003. "Banks-Firms Nexus under the Currency Board: Empirical Evidence from Bulgaria," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 555, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
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