Characteristics of Domestic and International Joint Ventures in Bulgaria

Paradoxically to the popularity of the joint ventures in a worldwide dimension even between antagonistic competitors and the parallely devoted exceptionally attention by the foreign academic community, in Bulgaria, with the exception of studies on international joint ventures, from which just a few empirical, research on domestic joint ventures is lacking. In response to that need of knowledge, not only the domestic joint ventures are identified in this book, but also their qualitative and quantitative structural characteristics are compared with those of the international joint ventures. The advantage of the study is the use of official data from the two databases, created in cooperation between the author and the National Statistical Institute, on the entire populations of 4463 domestic and 620 international joint ventures with Bulgarian participation set up in the 1947–2004 and 1989–2003 periods respectively. In view of the still unsatisfied need of a general theory of the joint ventures, the comparison is carried out in a theoretical framework, based on a critical analysis and an evaluation of eight theories, approaches and models, and on the application of the systems approach. The comparative analysis reveals a similarity in the profiles of both types of joint ventures, taking into consideration the following generalized results: (1) predominant investments in industry group services, followed by manufacturing and agriculture; (2) a correspondence between the first two industries from the three ones in which the frequency of the joint ventures is the greatest, namely trade and business services; (3) a predominant unequal distribution of equity among the partners in the joint ventures; (4) a predominant share of the joint ventures created by two partners; (5) a predominant micro firm size category of the joint ventures; (6) a predominant territorial concentration of the joint ventures in the three most developed planning regions – South-West, South Central, North-East, and in the three most developed districts – Sofia (capital), Varna, Plovdiv. Furthermore, the book can be used as a reference for: the origin and the evolution of the concept joint venture; the specific criteria for the qualification of a contemporary enterprise as a domestic or international joint venture; the advantages of the joint ventures over other alternative forms of organization and realization of transactions – non-equity strategic alliances, mergers, full or partial acquisitions, and wholly owned subsidiaries; the motives of the firms for creation of joint ventures; the community and the national protection of competition towards the joint ventures in the European Union. The book contains 18 tables, 17 graphics, 6 figures, and 215 bibliographic references in four languages – English, French, Spanish, and Bulgarian.