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Does Privatization Raise Productivity? Evidence from Comprehensive Panel Data on Manufacturing Firms in Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine

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  • J. David Brown

    (School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)

  • John S. Earle

    (Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Michigan)

  • Almos Telegdy

    (Institute of Economics of Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

We analyze the impact of privatization on multifactor productivity (MFP) using long panel data for nearly the universe of initially stateowned manufacturing firms in four economies. Controlling for firm and industry-year fixed effects and employing a wide variety of measurement approaches, we estimate that majority privatization raises MFP about 28% in Romania, 22% in Hungary, and 3% in Ukraine, with some variation across specifications, while in Russia it lowers it about 4%. Privatization to foreign rather than domestic investors has a larger impact (about 44%) and is much more consistent across countries. The positive effects emerge within a year in Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine and continue to grow thereafter, but are still ambiguous even after 5 years in Russia. Pre-privatization MFP exceeds that of firms remaining state-owned in all countries, implying that cross-sectional estimates overstate privatization effects. The patterns of the estimated effects cast doubt on a number of explanations for "when privatization works".

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2004. "Does Privatization Raise Productivity? Evidence from Comprehensive Panel Data on Manufacturing Firms in Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0425, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:has:discpr:0425
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    3. Galyna Grygorenko & Stefan Lutz, 2007. "Firm performance and privatization in Ukraine," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 253-266, September.
    4. Peter F. Orazem & Milan Vodopivec & Ruth Wu, 2005. "Worker displacement during the transition: Experience from Slovenia," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(2), pages 311-340, April.
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    7. Shumilov, Andrei, 2008. "Performance of business groups : evidence from port-crisis Russia," BOFIT Discussion Papers 24/2008, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    8. Andreas Bartels, & Vanessa Just, & Andreas Kompalla, & Jochen Schmid, 2017. "Forces And Effects In The Privatisation Process: An Empirical Study Of Telecommunications Companies In Germany And Romania," EcoForum, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Public Administration - Economy, Business Administration and Tourism Department., vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, January.
    9. Ramstetter, Eric D. & Ngoc, Phan Minh, 2013. "Productivity, ownership, and producer concentration in transition: Further evidence from Vietnamese manufacturing," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 28-42.
    10. Ramstetter, Eric D., 2017. "How important are SOEs and MNEs in Vietnam’s economy?," AGI Working Paper Series 2017-09, Asian Growth Research Institute.
    11. Rudiger Ahrend, 2006. "Russian Industrial Restructuring: Trends in Productivity, Competitiveness and Comparative Advantage," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 277-295.
    12. Cevik, Serhan, 2020. "You are suffocating me: Firm-level analysis of state-owned enterprises and private investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 292-301.
    13. Mihai Varga, 2013. "Strategies of Disruption: Factory Unions Facing Asset-Strippers in Post-Communist Romania and Ukraine," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(5), pages 1212-1233, October.
    14. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2006. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization: Longitudinal Estimates from Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 61-99, February.
    15. Tadesse WODAJO, Tadesse & Dawit SENBET, Dawit, 2013. "Distributions Of Public And Private Manufacturing Firms And Determinants Of Productivity In Ethiopia," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(1).
    16. Al-Akra, Mahmoud & Eddie, Ian A. & Ali, Muhammad Jahangir, 2010. "The influence of the introduction of accounting disclosure regulation on mandatory disclosure compliance: Evidence from Jordan," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 170-186.
    17. Ramstetter, Eric D., 2016. "Multinational Enterprise Growth and Vietnam's Employment and Wages in Manufacturing and Trade Industries: Did Takeovers Play a Role?," AGI Working Paper Series 2016-05, Asian Growth Research Institute.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions

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