Concentration and Inefficiency in the Defense Sector: Policy Options

This article, which is a part of a larger comprehensive study of the effects of employee ownership and worker participation on productivity in the United States, focuses on and documents the lack of worker participation in employee-owned firms [Rooney 1987]. It is estimated that more than 7,000 U.S. firms covering some 10 million employees have some degree of employee ownership [Rosen, Klein and Young 1986, p. 15]. By employee ownership, we simply mean that most of the employees own some shares of stock in the company in which they work. While most employee-owned firms have less than a majority ownership stake, several hundred U.S. firms are majority emp10yeeowned, and are the target of this study.     

Ownership structure and investment finance in transition economiesA survey of evidence from large firms in Hungary and Poland1

Using survey data on 157 large private Hungarian and Polish companies this paper investigates links between ownership structures and CEOs’ expectations with regard to sources of finance for investment. The Bayesian estimation is used to deal with the small sample restrictions, while classical methods provide robustness checks. We found a hump‐shaped relationship between ownership concentration and expectations of relying on public equity. The latter is most likely for firms where the largest investor owns between 25 percent and 49 percent of shares, just below the legal control threshold. More profitable firms rely on retained earnings for their investment finance, consistent with the ‘pecking order’ theory of financing. Finally, firms for which the largest shareholder is a domestic institutional investor are more likely to borrow from domestic banks.     

The micro-firm health insurance hypothesis

The objective of this study is to investigate the ‘micro-firm health insurance hypothesis’, a hypothesis that the greater the percentage of domestic firms that are ‘very small’, i.e. have four or fewer employees, the greater the percentage of the US population that will be without health insurance. The focus of this study is based on the premise that very small firms (as defined), ‘micro-firms’, which constitute 58.6% of all private sector firms in the US, face bargaining-power, financial, and competitive constraints that tend to limit their ability to provide group health insurance benefits to their employees, with the result being that employees at very small firms are relatively more likely than employees at larger firms to be without a health insurance fringe benefit. Weighted Least Squares (WLS) estimates provide strong empirical support for the hypothesis.     

The effects of privatization on productive efficiency: evidence from the Baltic republics

By using new and unusual data sets for large samples of firms in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania we find that, since privatization, diverse patterns of enterprise ownership have emerged and ownership configurations are quite dynamic.   To test competing theories on the productivity effects of alternative ownership structures, identical cross sectional production functions specifications are estimated for each country for varying years during 1993 1996. While the effects of private ownership upon productivity are found to vary considerably over time and across countries, productivity effects are always found to be either zero or positive, thus providing partial support for the hypothesis that state ownership is less efficient than private ownership.   Findings are mixed concerning hypotheses on the effects of particular ownership structures. Often (e.g. for Lithuania) estimates indicate that all forms of private ownership have zero productivity effects. However, some estimates for Estonia provide support for the mainstream hypothesis that outside (and especially foreign) ownership is preferred to insider ownership. But in other estimates (again for Estonia) majority ownership by employees is found to deliver better business performance than majority ownership by managers (thus refuting the hypothesis that the preferred form of insider ownership is ownership by managers).     

Efficiency and its determinants in pharmaceutical industries: ownership,R&D and scale economy

The purpose of this article is to measure the efficiency of pharmaceutical firms and identify their determinants using Korean and American samples from 1992 to 2004. We document some stylized facts in the patterns and sources of efficiency change in Korean and American pharmaceutical firms. The evidence shows that ownership structure can substantially influence the efficiency of pharmaceutical firms. Especially, institutional ownership rate affects corporate efficiencies negatively, corroborating the myopic institutional investor hypothesis. The hypothesis is supported by both Korean and American samples. However, we find evidence that foreign ownership in Korea promotes efficiency of pharmaceutical firms. It is shown that R&D intensity is positively related to contemporaneous largest ownership rate and prior foreign ownership rate in Korean pharmaceutical firms. In contrast, little evidence is found on the relationship between ownership structure and R&D intensity in the American pharmaceutical industry. These empirical results are robust even after we check the causal links among efficiency, R&D and ownership.     

混合所有制、股权激励与融资决策中的防御行为--基于动态权衡理论的证据

文章基于动态权衡理论,以1999-2014年上市公司为样本,运用混合所有制改革这一“自然实验”条件,研究了高管股权激励对其融资决策中防御行为的影响,分离出激励和治理双重效应。研究发现：(1)股权激励有助于抑制高管融资决策中的防御行为,但这种效应只存在于民营企业中;(2)对于国有企业,只在股权分置改革后才观察到类似效果,而股改前高管在减少债务融资的同时,提高了股权激励水平,自我激励问题明显;(3)公司股权混合度越高,其在赋予高管股权激励上越谨慎,但在国有股比例较高的公司中,混合所有制改革显著提高了股权激励水平;(4)股权混合安排显著改进了股权激励契约在抑制高管防御行为方面的效率,这种效应在非国有股比例较高的公司中更强。     

Family ownership,altruism and agency costs in Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises

Given the continuing uncertainty about whether family firms enjoy lower agency costs, this article hypothesizes that a combination of the effects of family ownership, altruism and self-control is instead at play. To begin with, family ownership can indeed reduce agency costs through better aligning the interests of owners and managers. This is a ‘determining’ effect in that it independently mitigates one source of agency problems. However, altruism combined with self-control problems arising from the highly concentrated ownership often found in family firms can also increase agency costs. This is an ‘embedding’ effect as it is rooted in the personal relationships within the family firm. Using the Business Longitudinal Database compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that for larger SMEs (those with 20–200 employees), the gains in lower agency costs arising from family ownership are almost completely offset by the losses from altruism and the lack of self-control.     

“混改”国企股权结构、董事会配置与创新绩效

在中国经济增速换挡、新旧动能转换背景下，创新成为引领经济发展、促进制造业转型升级的关键驱动因素。国有企业作为提升国家竞争优势的主力，其自主创新仍然面临着一些体制障碍。以2013-2017年沪深A股进行“混改”的制造业国有上市公司为研究样本，实证检验了股权结构对企业创新绩效的影响，并探析了董事会配置对股权结构与创新绩效关系的调节作用。研究表明：股权多样性越丰富、股权制衡度越高则创新绩效越好，股权集中度越高创新绩效越差；董事会中行政型董事比例弱化了股权多样性对创新绩效的促进作用，强化了股权集中度对创新绩效的抑制作用；董事会中经济型董事比例强化了股权多样性和股权制衡度对企业创新绩效的促进作用。     

What Drives the Operating Performance of Privatised Firms?

Using a panel data analysis of Spanish privatised firms, we study how different factors influence the operating performance of divested companies. The results show that it is not privatisation per se but other factors that matter. After controlling for possible sample selection bias related to government timing of divestments, we find that the greater the relinquishment of State control and the smaller the percentage of ownership held by managers and/or employees, the better the firms’ post‐privatisation performance. Moreover, privatisations that are accompanied by liberalisation programmes and occur during buoyant economic cycles turn out to be more successful.     

Employee ownership and internal governance

This paper is designed to counter Oliver Williamson's hypothetical ‘Peer Group’ model of organization with a discussion of three prosperous populations of employee-owned firms: worked-owned scavenger companies, taxi cooperatives, and professional partnerships such as the large law firm. It will be shown here that these firms are formed, endure and prevail over their competition for reasons that Williamson, more than anyone else, has taught us to appreciate. In particular, this paper will argue that the metering problems and human asset considerations that are so prominently featured in Williamson's work are crucial for understanding the success of these firms.     

Efficiency and performance in gas distribution. Evidence from Brazil

This article analyses the current state of the gas distribution industry in Brazil, by identifying the main factors that determine its efficiency. In order to test the performance of the industry, we have calculated the firms’ technical efficiency during the period 2001–2009. We analyse whether some economic and technological factors as consumer density, load factor or regulation, among others, have affected the performance of this industry. We show that companies serving markets with different customer characteristics (diversification) have reached higher levels of efficiency and evolved faster. Moreover, the private ownership and price cap regulation are more efficient in relation to public ownership and cost of service regulation. These findings are important to support the improvement of the regulation of gas distribution in the Brazilian states.     

What deters labor-owned firm creation? Evidence from Italian manufacturing sectors

We analyze the determinants of labor-owned versus capital-owned firm creation. We match firm-level information on a large sample of new manufacturing firms with available industry-level proxies of the main determinants of ownership structures according to existing economic theories. We estimate a logit model and quantify the empirical contribution of each argument to explain labor-owned versus capital-owned firm entry. Our results show that human capital specificity and workers heterogeneity largely explain labor-owned firm entry, while other dimensions, such as limited worker wealth, have a weaker statistical relevance. These findings are robust to different estimation methods and are unlikely to be affected by endogeneity concerns. Our results contribute to the general understanding of the endogenous dynamics of ownership rights distribution in manufacturing firms and to the elaboration of policy initiatives aimed at supporting cooperative modes of firm organization.     

经济转型中的企业退出机制——关于北京市中关村科技园区的一项经验研究

本文运用来自北京市中关村科技园区的一套独特数据 ,从企业退出这个角度探讨决定中关村高科技企业成长的相关因素 ,尤其是企业的效率因素、企业负债和所有制性质 (或行政隶属关系 )对退出的影响。本文的基本发现是 ,效率高低日益成为决定中关村高科技企业生存的重要因素 ,这表明经过二十多年的经济改革开放 ,市场力量的重要性已日渐上升。另一方面 ,企业负债也成为制约企业生存与成长的重要因素。但是 ,企业净资产负债率对不同所有制企业的退出的影响也不尽相同 ,国有企业总体上不受其影响 ,而且行政隶属关系越高 ,所受影响也就越小 ;但净资产负债率对非国有企业则形成显著的压力。这说明传统计划体制下的预算软约束问题仍然没有消失。我们的研究还表明 ,随着时间的推移 ,行政隶属关系和所有制性质本身对企业生存提供的保护作用正在递减。     

THE RESPONSE OF STATE‐OWNED ENTERPRISES TO IMPORT COMPETITION: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE MANUFACTURING FIRMS

We examine the wage and employment impact on Chinese firms of an increase in import competition associated with China's WTO accession in December 2001, with an emphasis on state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). We find that both wage and employment are negatively impacted by an increase in import competition, but firms with high state ownership cut employment less and reduce wages more than their private counterparts, suggesting that they prioritize the protection of employment over that of wages. This finding supports the notion that SOEs may have ‘multitask’ responsibilities in terms of protecting employment as well as achieving efficiency. We also find that firms with higher capital intensity reduce their wages less but cut employment more in response to intensified import competition. This provides empirical support for the efficiency wage theory.     

Stock price responses to the eco-points programme for electrical household appliances: evidence from Japan

This article examines the Japanese government’s ‘Project for Green Consumer Electronics to Promote Business through the Use of Eco-points’ and its economic impact on consumer electronics firms’ stock prices. There has been little research on the economic effect of this project. In order to achieve our aim, we employ event study methodology. Our results show that stock prices responded positively to programme adoption, thereby indicating that the programme had positive effects on the related firms’ performance. The results also show that the programme’s economic effects gradually decreased over each subsequent programme extension. This probably occurred because the programme targeted durable goods, which consumers do not replace frequently.     

Employee Stock Ownership and Participation in South Korea: Incidence, Productivity Effects, and Prospects

The paper examines employee stock ownership plans in South Korea. The incidence and characteristics of ESOPs in publicly traded manufacturing firms is reported. Korean employees do not participate in ESOPs either financially or in decision-making to the extent they could under the law. Evidence that tax incentives have very large effects on ESOP purchases is presented. Econometric estimates suggest that an increase in an average ESOP from 2% to 3% of total shares would lead to an increase in output of 2.6%. These results are broadly consistent with OECD countries, despite the smaller ownership shared and weaker employee decision-making participation in Korea. The policy analysis concludes that ESOPs in Korea are not suitable for pensions; that it is not in employee interests to purchase all shares through initial public offerings (IPOs) and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs); that incentives for longer stock-holding periods may be appropriate; that improvement in decision-making participation is desirable; and that changes in repayment methods could make it more attractive for employees to purchase shares.     

Optimal Privatization and Economic Growth in a Schumpeterian Economy

This paper analyzes the growth and welfare effects of the privatization of public firms in a Schumpeterian growth model. Two alternative definitions of privatization are proposed in our model. The first is the ratio of mixed R&D firms’ equity shares owned by the household, which is dubbed vertical privatization. The second is the number of unmixed R&D firms, which is called horizontal privatization. We find that, under both definitions, privatization is beneficial to economic growth while the effect of privatization on social welfare is ambiguous. Accordingly, our analysis reveals that a partial privatization could be an optimal policy. Moreover, we also discuss how the extent of patent protection is related to optimal privatization.     

Restructuring outcomes and the evolution of ownership patterns in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper begins from the proposition that ‘deep restructuring’ requires both finance and managerial expertise. It addresses the question of how this second stage of enterprise restructuring will come about in the majority of state-owned or former state-owned firms that are not owned by foreigners. In particular, it seeks to identify how the initial post-privatization ownership and control structure impinges on the likelihood that deep restructuring takes place. Conclusions for the design of privatization policy are drawn. The initial post-privatization ownership structures in the Visegrad countries and Russia are surveyed along with evidence of the transfer of ownership from insiders to outsiders.     

An assessment of trends in technology use,innovative work practices and employees’ attitudes in Europe

Several studies of innovative work practices show a positive link with firm performance and employees’ task involvement, organizational commitment and citizenship behaviours. One of the recent changes faced by firms is the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Although several empirical studies analyse the links between ICT use, innovative work practices and firm performance, employee-level analyses are scarce. Using data from the European Working Condition Survey (EWCS), this article investigates the relationships between use of the Internet and computers and positive attitudes among employees (social support, job satisfaction, extra effort) in the European context. Our empirical results are based on data for more than 9500 employees from 16 European countries in 2005, and more than 14 000 in 2010. Among the different effects of ICT use, based on the results for the 2005, 2010 and the pooled 2005–2010 sample, and in a within-cohorts change analysis, we find that Internet use is positively related to employees’ job satisfaction and extra effort. We find that computer use is not related to employees’ behaviours. We find also that most of the innovative work practices considered are positively related to employees’ positive attitudes.     

Joint ownership and interconnection pricing in network industries

This paper investigates a vertical market structure called joint ownership, where a monopolistic upstream firm is jointly owned and operated by competing downstream firms. As such, a common interconnection price to an upstream bottleneck is determined by bargaining among the downstream firms. We show that (1) joint ownership can be superior to the other ownership structures by overcoming vertical externality of double marginalization; (2) collusive outcomes, however, may arise surrounding the setting of common interconnection price; (3) an overall performance of joint ownership depends crucially upon how equity shares are initially distributed and which bargaining rules are employed; and finally (4) a policy measure to promote downstream competition may have ambiguous consequences under joint ownership. Some managerial and political implications in implementing joint ownership in practice are also provided.