Corporate Governance, Ownership Structures and Investment in Transition Economies: The Case of Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan

40 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2008

See all articles by Olga Lazareva

Olga Lazareva

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Andrei Rachinsky

Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR); New Economic School, Moscow

Sergey Stepanov

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - International College of Economics and Finance; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - Faculty of Economics

Date Written: March 4, 2008

Abstract

In this paper we analyze interrelations between ownership structures, corporate governance and investment in three transition countries: Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. In contrast to most empirical papers on corporate governance, we study companies with very little exposure to public financial markets. Our empirical analysis is based on two years of data obtained through large-scale surveys of firms. Ukrainian companies appear to have the best corporate governance practices, while Russian companies - the worst. We find that the relationship between ownership concentration and corporate governance is non-linear. In Russia, the relationship between the share of the largest non-state shareholder and corporate governance is either positive or insignificant when the blockholder's stake is below a certain threshold; however, a further increase in the blockholder' share is associated with worsening corporate governance. We find a similar effect in Ukraine, but only for managerial ownership. In both countries, corporate governance improves as the combined share of small shareholders grows. No robust effects of the ownership structure are found for Kyrgyz firms. Further we show that the market for corporate control seems to have little relationship to the firms' corporate governance practices. We find no link between the quality of corporate governance and either the need for outside finance or actual investments financed with outside funds in either of the three countries.

Keywords: governance, transition, ownership structure, investment

JEL Classification: G32, G34

Suggested Citation

Lazareva, Olga and Rachinsky, Andrei and Stepanov, Sergey, Corporate Governance, Ownership Structures and Investment in Transition Economies: The Case of Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan (March 4, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1102610 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1102610

Olga Lazareva

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

Myasnitskaya street, 20
Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

Andrei Rachinsky

Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR) ( email )

47 Nakhimovsky Prospect, Office #720
117418 Moscow
Russia

New Economic School, Moscow

100A Novaya Street
Moscow, Skolkovo 143026
Russia

Sergey Stepanov (Contact Author)

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - International College of Economics and Finance ( email )

Pokrovsky Boulevard 11, building T
Moscow, 109028
Russia

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Pokrovsky Boulevard 11
Room T614
Moscow, 109028
Russia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
130
Abstract Views
987
Rank
395,045
PlumX Metrics