We study the efficiency of capital allocations at state-controlled and privately owned business groups in China. Using highly granular data on within-group capital transfers, we document stark differences: while private groups allocate more capital to units with better investment opportunities,...

We evaluate differences in investment behavior between stock market listed and privately held firms in the U.S. using a rich new data source on private firms. Listed firms invest less and are less responsive to changes in investment opportunities compared to observably similar, matched private...

Some feminist writings have claimed that 'bureaucracy' is inherently 'patriarchal'. This paper challenges this argument by comparing the experience of women in Ireland in a state sector organization and in a cluster of software firms. While the bureaucratic state company has been reformed to...

We develop a theoretical framework for comparing incentives, labor productivity and the allocation of effort in public versus private enterprises. We incorporate "socializing", an activity which yields utility for workers and affects a firm's output, into a multitask model of work organization....

While it is well documented that privatization leads to an improvement in the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) following divestiture, it is argued that many of these studies do not consider the performance of control firms of similar pre-privatization situations, i.e. the...