Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. This paper was developed with financial support from the SBF Bourse de Paris and the New York Stock Exchange, and the assistance and comments of George Sofianos, Bill Tschirhart, Jean-Claude Cosset, Kathy Dewenter, Ranko Jelic, John Nellis, Rob Nash, Marc Lipson, Harold Mulherin, and Annette Poulsen is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier drafts of the authors' privatization works cited herein have benefited from comments received from participants at the 1993 National Bureau of Economic Research corporate finance conference, the 1994-1998 American Finance Association annual meetings, the 1994 American Economic Association meeting, the 1994 Political Economy Research Center Privatization Forum, the 1995-1998 Financial Management Association annual meetings, the 1995 European Finance Association meeting, the 1997 NYSE Cancun Conference on Global Equity Issuance, and seminars at the Copenhagen Business School, the Norwegian School of Management, the University of Chile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Emory University, the University of Georgia, Florida State University, Virginia Tech, Indiana University, The University of Houston, and Tulane University. All remaining errors are the authors' alone. This study surveys the academic and professional literature examining the privatization of stateowned enterprises (SOEs), with a focus on empirical studies. The paper is written from the perspective of a policy-maker weighing the adoption of a national privatization program, who seeks answers to the following questions: (1) How large an impact have privatization programs actually had thus far on state involvement in different national economies?; (2) Has the decision to privatize been based on dissatisfaction with the economic performance of SOEs, and is there a viable policy alternative to divestment?; (3) Have privatization programs significantly improved the operating and financial performance of the companies divested?; (4) Terms of use: Documents in EconStor mayOnce the decision to privatize is made, how do governments select the appropriate method and sequencing of selling state-owned assets?; (5) How do governments price the SOEs they wish to sell and how do they decide which potential buyers to favor?; and (6) Have investors who purchase the shares of privatized firms experienced positive short and long-term returns?Privatization has been instrumental in reducing state ownership in many countries and had a transforming effect on global stock markets, al...

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. This paper was developed with financial support from the SBF Bourse de Paris and the New York Stock Exchange, and the assistance and comments of George Sofianos, Bill Tschirhart, Jean-Claude Cosset, Kathy Dewenter, Ranko Jelic, John Nellis, Rob Nash, Marc Lipson, Harold Mulherin, and Annette Poulsen is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier drafts of the authors' privatization works cited herein have benefited from comments received from participants at the 1993 National Bureau of Economic Research corporate finance conference, the 1994-1998 American Finance Association annual meetings, the 1994 American Economic Association meeting, the 1994 Political Economy Research Center Privatization Forum, the 1995-1998 Financial Management Association annual meetings, the 1995 European Finance Association meeting, the 1997 NYSE Cancun Conference on Global Equity Issuance, and seminars at the Copenhagen Business School, the Norwegian School of Management, the University of Chile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Emory University, the University of Georgia, Florida State University, Virginia Tech, Indiana University, The University of Houston, and Tulane University. All remaining errors are the authors' alone. This study surveys the academic and professional literature examining the privatization of stateowned enterprises (SOEs), with a focus on empirical studies. The paper is written from the perspective of a policy-maker weighing the adoption of a national privatization program, who seeks answers to the following questions: (1) How large an impact have privatization programs actually had thus far on state involvement in different national economies?; (2) Has the decision to privatize been based on dissatisfaction with the economic performance of SOEs, and is there a viable policy alternative to divestment?; (3) Have privatization programs significantly improved the operating and financial performance of the companies divested?; (4) Terms of use: Documents in EconStor mayOnce the decision to privatize is made, how do governments select the appropriate method and sequencing of selling state-owned assets?; (5) How do governments price the SOEs they wish to sell and how do they decide which potential buyers to favor?; and (6) Have investors who purchase the shares of privatized firms experienced positive short and long-term returns?Privatization has been instrumental in reducing state ownership in many countries and had a transforming effect on global stock markets, al...

This paper provides support for the certification role of venture capitalists in initial public offerings. Consistent with the certification hypothesis, a comparison of venture capital backed IPOs with a control sample of nonventure capital backed IPOs from 1983 through 1987 matched as closely as possible by industry and offering size indicates that venture capital backing results in significantly lower initial returns and gross spreads. In effect, the presence of venture capitalists in the issuing firms serves to lower the total costs of going public and to maximize the net proceeds to the offering firm. In addition, we document that venture capitalists retain a significant portion of their holdings in the firm after the IPO.

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This study compares the pre and postprivatization financial and operating performance of 61 companies from 18 countries and 32 industries that experience full or partial privatization through public share offerings during the period 1961 to 1990. Our results document strong performance improvements, achieved surprisingly without sacrificing employment security. Specifically, after being privatized, firms increase real sales, become more profitable, increase their capital investment spending, improve their operating efficiency, and increase their work forces. Furthermore, these companies significantly lower their debt levels and increase dividend payout. Finally, we document significant changes in the size and composition of corporate boards of directors after privatization.

This study compares the pre-and postprivatization financial and operating performance of 85 companies from 28 industrialized countries that were privatized through public share offerings for the period from 1990 through 1996. We document significant increases in profitability, output, operating efficiency, and dividend payments-and significant decreases in leverage ratios-for our full sample of firms after privatization, and for most subsamples examined. Capital expenditures increase significantly in absolute terms, but not relative to sales. Employment declines, but insignificantly. Combined with results from two previous, directly comparable studies, these findings strongly suggest that privatization yields significant performance improvements. DURING THE PAST TWO DECADES, the privatization of state-owned enterprises has moved from being a radical, almost desperate, policy initiative of the Thatcher government in Britain to being an accepted economic policy for governments of all ideological stripes. According to Gibbon~1998!, $860 billion has been raised by governments worldwide through privatizations, with the bulk of this total coming since 1987, and at least one commentator~Rochẽ 1996!! predicts that no less than $6 trillion will be raised through privatizations over the next two decades. In 1997 alone, sales of public enterprises totaled a record $161 billion worldwide, with more than $110 billion of the total coming during the second half of the year, and 1998's total of almost $140 billion indicates that the pace shows no sign of slackening as we approach a new millennium.

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