Stock markets in transition economies are generally underdeveloped, with low market capitalization and turnover, even when compared to most emerging markets. Poor macro-conditions, weak legal protection for minority shareholders and limited development of institutional investors have impeded...

Evidence from East Asia suggests that a firm's ownership relationship with a family or bank provides insurance against the likelihood of bankruptcy during bad times, possibly at the expense of minority shareholders. Bankruptcy is more likely in countries with strong creditor rights and a good...

This article disentangles the incentive and entrenchment effects of large ownership. Using data for 1,301 publicly traded corporations in eight East Asian economies, we find that firm value increases with the cash-flow ownership of the largest shareholder, consistent with a positive incentive...

In nine East Asian countries, higher cash-flow rights are associated with a higher market valuation and higher control rights with a lower valuation, especially when cash-flow rights are low and control rights are high. This suggests the expropriation of minority shareholders by controlling...

Some East Asian firms diversify to circumvent external factor markets subject to high transaction costs. Other diversify as a means of expropriation by large stockholders. There is evidence that group affiliation is used to complement firm-level diversification in the creation of internal...

A study of 2,980 corporations in nine East Asian countries finds more than half of those firms being controlled by a single shareholder. Many smaller and older firms are family-controlled. Wealth is very concentrated in some countries, and links between business and government are extensive, so...

This study of how privatization and stabilization (hard budget constraints) affect enterprise behavior shows that privatized firms consistently outperform state enterprises in productivity growth. Total factor productivity improves in privatized firms, where there is also less overemployment...