Public enterprises (PEs) earn an average 10 percent of GDP in developing countries. Many governments are reexamining the role of the state, so questions about whether to divest PEs or make them more efficient are likely to intensify. The Bank will increasingly be called upon for advice and...

By international standards, and given its relatively low per capita income, Vietnam has achieved substantial reductions in, and low levels of, infant and under-five mortality. The authors review existing evidence and provide new evidence on whether, under the economic liberalization program...

State-owned enterprises play an important role in economic growth and the delivery of critical public services such as health, education, water, and energy. The underperformance of state-owned enterprises can lead to significant challenges in overall national growth and competitiveness and pose...

Hayek argues that local knowledge is a key for understanding whether production should be decentralized. This paper tests Hayek?s predictions by examining the causes of the Chinese government?s decision to decentralize state-owned enterprises. Since the government located closer to a state-owned...

This paper compares the raising of external equity capital from private equity investors via private investments in public equity (PIPEs) and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) using a sample of 456 PIPEs and 1,910 SEOs drawn from nine Asian countries. Consistent with the idea that insiders...

Are Belarus's state owned enterprises positioned to grow in 2011-2015 as successfully as in 1995-2006? State owned enterprises account for 55 percent of Belarus's output and two-thirds of overall employment; economic growth in 1995-2006 was the result of capacity expansion and productivity...

Using a unique dataset comprising information for more than 900 firms in the machine building sector in Belarus, this paper investigates the determinants of firm growth for an economy where state ownership of enterprises is widespread. It uses panel data models based on generalizations of...

This paper studies the governance structure of state-owned enterprises in the water and electricity sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean. Through a unique dataset, the paper compares 44 leading state companies of the region based on an aggregate measure of corporate governance and six...

The author reviews the state of thinking on the governance role of state ownership. He argues that a gradual transfer of operational control and financial claims over state assets remains the most desirable goal, but it needs to be paced to avoid regulatory capture, and the capture of the...