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State Capitalism, Economic Systems and the Performance of State Owned Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Estrin, Saul

    (Managerial Economics and Strategy at the Department of Management, London School of Economics, United Kingdom)

  • Liang, Zhixiang

    (Strategic Management at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada)

  • Shapiro, Daniel

    (Global Business Strategy at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

  • Carney, Michael

    (Management Faculty, Senior Concordia University Research Chair at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada)

Abstract

In this paper, we pursue two related research questions. First, we enquire whether state owned enterprises (SOEs) perform better than privately owned firms in a large variety of emerging markets. To test this, we develop a unique dataset using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), resulting in a sample of over 50,000 firms from 57 understudied countries including emerging capitalist, former socialist and state capitalist ones. Our results suggest that SOEs do display productivity advantages over private firms in these understudied economies. Our second research question asks whether the performance of state owned firms in these understudied countries is context specific, namely whether performance depends on the institutional system into which a country is classified. We refer to these systems as configurations. In particular, we are interested in whether state owned firms perform better in “state capitalist” countries including China and Vietnam. We find empirical support for the argument that the “state-led” configuration provides better institutional support for the ownership advantages of SOEs than others.

Suggested Citation

  • Estrin, Saul & Liang, Zhixiang & Shapiro, Daniel & Carney, Michael, 2019. "State Capitalism, Economic Systems and the Performance of State Owned Firms," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 69(supplemen), pages 175-193, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aka:aoecon:v:69:y:2019:i:supplement1:p:175-193
    Note: Author order does not reflect contribution, which has been equal.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Matuszak, Piotr & Kabaciński, Bartosz, 2021. "Non-commercial goals and financial performance of state-owned enterprises – some evidence from the electricity sector in the EU countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 1068-1087.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    comparative economic systems; state ownership; Varieties of Institutional Systems (VIS); firm performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems
    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions
    • L44 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Antitrust Policy and Public Enterprise, Nonprofit Institutions, and Professional Organizations

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