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Firm growth and productivity in Belarus: New empirical evidence from the machine building industry

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  • Crespo Cuaresma, Jesus
  • Oberhofer, Harald
  • Vincelette, Gallina Andronova

Abstract

Using a unique dataset comprising information for (up to) 153 firms in the machine building sector in Belarus, we investigate the determinants of firm growth for an economy where state ownership of enterprises is widespread. We use panel data models based on generalizations of Gibrat’s law, total factor productivity estimates and matching methods to assess the differences in firm growth between private and state-controlled firms. Our results indicate that labor hoarding and soft budget constraints play a particularly important role in explaining differences in performance between these two groups of firms.

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  • Crespo Cuaresma, Jesus & Oberhofer, Harald & Vincelette, Gallina Andronova, 2014. "Firm growth and productivity in Belarus: New empirical evidence from the machine building industry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 726-738.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:42:y:2014:i:3:p:726-738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2013.07.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Crespo Cuaresma, Jesus & Oberhofer, Harald & Vincelette, Gallina Andronova, 2014. "Firm growth and productivity in Belarus: New empirical evidence from the machine building industry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 726-738.
    2. Ghosh, Saibal, 2013. "Do economic reforms matter for manufacturing productivity? Evidence from the Indian experience," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 723-733.
    3. Ichiro IWASAKI & Satoshi MIZOBATA, 2018. "Post-Privatization Ownership And Firm Performance: A Large Meta-Analysis Of The Transition Literature," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(2), pages 263-322, June.
    4. Tadesse WODAJO, Tadesse & Dawit SENBET, Dawit, 2013. "Distributions Of Public And Private Manufacturing Firms And Determinants Of Productivity In Ethiopia," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(1).
    5. Victoria Golikova & Boris Kuznetsov, 2017. "Suboptimal Size: Factors Preventing the Growth of Russian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 11(3), pages 83-93.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm growth; Total factor productivity; State-owned enterprises; Soft budget constraints;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises

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