IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/upj/weupjo/05-125.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Privatization Hurt Workers? Lessons from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine

Author

Listed:
  • J. David Brown

    (Heriot-Watt University and CEU Labor Project)

  • John S. Earle

    (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Central European University)

  • Almos Telegdy

    (Central European University and Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

We estimate the effects of privatization on firm-level wages and employment in four transition economies. Applied to longitudinal data on manufacturing firms, our fixed effect and random trend models consistently fail to support workers' fears of job losses from privatization, and they never imply large negative effects on wages; only for domestic privatization in Hungary and Russia are small (3-5%) negative wage effects found. Privatization to foreign investors has positive estimated impacts on both employment and wages in all four countries. The negligible consequences of domestic privatization for workers result from effects on scale, productivity, and costs that are large but offsetting in Hungary and Romania, and from small effects of all types in Russia and Ukraine. The positive employment outcome under foreign ownership results from a substantial scale-expansion effect that dominates the productivity-improvement effect, and the positive wage outcome from a productivity effect that dominates the effect on cost reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2005. "Does Privatization Hurt Workers? Lessons from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Upjohn Working Papers 05-125, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:05-125
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1142&context=up_workingpapers
    Download Restriction: This material is copyrighted. Permission is required to reproduce any or all parts.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chong, Alberto & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio, 2002. "Privatization and labor force restructuring around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2884, The World Bank.
    2. Simeon Djankov & Peter Murrell, 2002. "Enterprise Restructuring in Transition: A Quantitative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 739-792, September.
    3. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    4. Jacobson, Louis & LaLonde, Robert & G. Sullivan, Daniel, 2005. "Estimating the returns to community college schooling for displaced workers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 271-304.
    5. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    6. Andrei Shleifer & Lawrence H. Summers, 1988. "Breach of Trust in Hostile Takeovers," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 33-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 1998. "The results of ‘mass privatization’in Romania: A first empirical study1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 6(2), pages 313-332, November.
    8. Roland, Gerard & Sekkat, Khalid, 2000. "Managerial career concerns, privatization and restructuring in transition economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1857-1872, December.
    9. John S. Earle & Klara Z. Sabirianova, 2002. "How Late to Pay? Understanding Wage Arrears in Russia," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 661-707, July.
    10. Earle, John S. & Telegdy, Almos, 2002. "Privatization Methods and Productivity Effects in Romanian Industrial Enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 657-682, December.
    11. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    12. Heckman, J.J. & Hotz, V.J., 1988. "Choosing Among Alternative Nonexperimental Methods For Estimating The Impact Of Social Programs: The Case Of Manpower Training," University of Chicago - Economics Research Center 88-12, Chicago - Economics Research Center.
    13. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1996. "A Theory of Privatisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 309-319, March.
    14. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:1081-1110 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. John Vickers & George Yarrow, 1991. "Economic Perspectives on Privatization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 111-132, Spring.
    16. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1988. "An Analysis of Public- and Private-Sector Wages Allowing for Endogenous Choices of Both Government and Union Status," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 229-253, April.
    17. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1997. "Privatizing Russia," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262522284, April.
    18. Bonin, John P & Jones, Derek C & Putterman, Louis, 1993. "Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Producer Cooperatives: Will Ever the Twain Meet?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1290-1320, September.
    19. Ashenfelter, Orley & Card, David, 1985. "Using the Longitudinal Structure of Earnings to Estimate the Effect of Training Programs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(4), pages 648-660, November.
    20. Roman Frydman & Cheryl Gray & Marek Hessel & Andrzej Rapaczynski, 1999. "When Does Privatization Work? The Impact of Private Ownership on Corporate Performance in the Transition Economies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1153-1191.
    21. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025.
    22. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2006. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization: Longitudinal Estimates from Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 61-99, February.
    23. Aghion, Philippe & Blanchard, Olivier & Burgess, Robin, 1994. "The behaviour of state firms in eastern Europe, pre-privatisation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 1327-1349, June.
    24. repec:bla:econom:v:60:y:1993:i:238:p:161-81 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Birdsall, Nancy & Nellis, John, 2003. "Winners and Losers: Assessing the Distributional Impact of Privatization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1617-1633, October.
    26. Philippe Aghion & Olivier J. Blanchard, 1998. "On privatization methods in Eastern Europe and their implications1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 6(1), pages 87-99, May.
    27. Arellano, M, 1987. "Computing Robust Standard Errors for Within-Groups Estimators," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 49(4), pages 431-434, November.
    28. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, "undated". "The Productivity Effects of Privatization: Longitudnal Estimates for Hungary, romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Upjohn Working Papers jse20063, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    29. Kikeri, S., 1998. "Privatization and Labour. What Happens to Workers When Governments Divest?," Papers 396, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sándor Csengödi & Dieter M. Urban, 2008. "Foreign Takeovers and Wage Dispersion in Hungary," CESifo Working Paper Series 2188, CESifo.
    2. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2007. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Public-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials using LEED from Hungary, 1986-2003," NBER Working Papers 12997, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Gimpelson, V. & Kapeliushnikov, R. & Lukyanova, A. & Ryzhikova, Z. & Kulyaeva, G., 2010. "Ownership and Wage Differentiation in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, issue 5, pages 48-72.
    4. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2008. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Public-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials with LEED from Hungary, 1986 to 2003," NBER Chapters, in: The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, pages 229-252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Gene Chang & Josef Brada, 2011. "A Model of the Macroeconomic Effects of Privatization on Employment in Transition and Developing Countries with an Application to China," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 18(2), pages 310-327, December.
    6. Robert E. Lipsey, 2006. "Measuring the Impacts of FDI in Central and Eastern Europe," NBER Working Papers 12808, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Ansgar Belke & Frank Baumgärtner & Friedrich Schneider & Ralph Setzer, 2007. "The Different Extent of Privatization Proceeds in OECD Countries: A Preliminary Explanation Using a Public-Choice Approach," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(2), pages 211-243, June.
    8. El-hadj Bah & Josef C. Brada, 2014. "Labor Markets in the Transition Economies: An Overview," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(1), pages 3-53, June.
    9. Dermot McCarthy & Eoin Reeves & Tom Turner, 2010. "The impact of privatization and employee share ownership on employee commitment and citizen behaviour," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 31(3), pages 307-326, August.
    10. Ádám Bereczk, 2013. "Output and Staff Number in Hungarian Manufacturing before, during and after the Crisis," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 9(02), pages 15-21.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. J. DavidBrown & JohnS. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2010. "Employment and Wage Effects of Privatisation: Evidence from Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(545), pages 683-708, June.
    2. Ádám Szentpéteri & Álmos Telegdy, 2010. "Political Selection Of Firms Into Privatization Programs. Evidence From Romanian Comprehensive Data," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 298-328, November.
    3. Brown, David J. & Earle, John S. & Telegdy, Almos, 2016. "Where does privatization work? Understanding the heterogeneity in estimated firm performance effects," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 329-362.
    4. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2006. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization: Longitudinal Estimates from Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 61-99, February.
    5. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S. & Shpak, Solomiya & Vakhitov, Volodymyr, 2015. "Is Privatization Working in Ukraine? New Estimates from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Data, 1989-2013," IZA Discussion Papers 9261, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2007. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Public-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials using LEED from Hungary, 1986-2003," NBER Working Papers 12997, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2008. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Public-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials with LEED from Hungary, 1986 to 2003," NBER Chapters, in: The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, pages 229-252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Solomiya Shpak & Volodymyr Vakhitov, 2019. "Is Privatization Working in Ukraine?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(1), pages 1-35, March.
    9. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2004. "Does Privatization Raise Productivity? Evidence from Comprehensive Panel Data on Manufacturing Firms in Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0425, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    10. Laura Cabeza García & Silvia Gómez Ansón, 2012. "What Drives the Operating Performance of Privatised Firms?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(1), pages 1-27, February.
    11. Jan Hagemejer & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2020. "A New Instrument for Measuring the Local Causal Effect of Privatisation on Firm Performance," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 35-52.
    12. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S. & Vakhitov, Volodymyr, 2006. "Wages, layoffs, and privatization: Evidence from Ukraine," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 272-294, June.
    13. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    14. Lu, Susan Feng & Dranove, David, 2013. "Profiting from gaizhi: Management buyouts during China’s privatization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 634-650.
    15. Boardman, Anthony E. & Vining, Aidan R. & Weimer, David L., 2016. "The long-run effects of privatization on productivity: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 1001-1017.
    16. John S. Earle & Almos Telegdy, 2009. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Publi-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials with LEED from Hungary, 1986 to 2003," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Stefan Bender & Julia Lane & Kathryn Shaw & Fredrick Andersson & till von Wachter (ed.),The Analysis of Firms and Employees: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, pages 229-252, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    17. Szarzec, Katarzyna & Dombi, Ákos & Matuszak, Piotr, 2021. "State-owned enterprises and economic growth: Evidence from the post-Lehman period," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. J. David Brown & John S. Earle, 2007. "The Productivity Effects of Privatization in Ukraine: Estimates from Comprehensive Manufacturing Firm Panel Data, 1989–2005," Upjohn Working Papers 07-137, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    19. 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.
    20. Saul Estrin & Jan Hanousek & Evzen Kocenda & Jan Svejnar, 2009. "The Effects of Privatization and Ownership in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 699-728, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    privatization; employment; wages; foreign ownership; Hungary; Romania; Russia; Ukraine;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:05-125. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/upjohus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.