| ID | 090814 |
| Title Proper | Helping hand or grabbing hand? state bureaucracy and privatization effectiveness |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Brown, J David ; Earle, John S ; Gehlbach, Scott |
| Publication | 2009. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Why have economic reforms aimed at reducing the role of the state been successful in some cases but not others? Are reform failures the consequence of leviathan states that hinder private economic activity, or of weak states unable to implement policies effectively and provide a supportive institutional environment? We explore these questions in a study of privatization in postcommunist Russia. Taking advantage of large regional variation in the size of public administrations, and employing a multilevel research design that controls for preprivatization selection in the estimation of regional privatization effects, we examine the relationship between state bureaucracy and the impact of privatization on firm productivity. We find that privatization is more effective in regions with relatively large bureaucracies. Our analysis suggests that this effect is driven by the impact of bureaucracy on the postprivatization business environment, with better institutional support and less corruption when bureaucracies are large. |
| `In' analytical Note | American Political Science Review Vol. 103, No. 2; May 2009: p.264-283 |
| Journal Source | American Political Science Review Vol. 103, No. 2; May 2009: p.264-283 |
| Key Words | Helping Hand ; Grabbing Hand ; State Bureaucracy ; Privatization ; Economic Reforms ; Institutional Environment ; Public Administrations ; Bureaucracy |