In this paper it is argued that privatization is not the only alternative to public ownership. Adopting the incomplete … contract approach, it is shown that partial privatization may well be the optimal ownership structure. While in the standard … privatization can be optimal since it mitigates the disadvantages of public ownership (no incentives to improve quality if the …

data permit us to track the privatization process and to estimate the impact of privatization within industry-year cells … majority privatized versus state-owned firms. The gap increases with time since privatization, reaching about 15-17% five years … after privatization. It also increases with calendar time although recent privatizations are associated with smaller …

We construct and analyze a unique database with 1992-99 information on privatization transactions and labor … describe the post-privatization ownership structure and to test the effect of alternative privatization policies on firm … and domestic blockholders, but insider and mass privatization are also estimated to have positive, although smaller …

the privatization. The two key mechanisms explaining the results are: (i) a government owner keeping control takes into …

companies exhibit lower credit spreads than partially privatized firms, indicating the cost of a lengthy privatization process …