Three Essays on Privatization and Corporate Governance

Download or read book Three Essays on Privatization and Corporate Governance written by Wanrapee Banchuenvijit and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation seeks not only to extend the existing privatization literature but also to provide the association between privatization and corporate governance literatures. It is divided into three essays. The first essay examines changes in the financial and operating performance of 103 firms worldwide that were partially or fully privatized through public share offerings during 1993-2003. The empirical results from the Wilcoxon and proportion tests show increases in profitability, operating efficiency, capital spending, output, and dividend payments as well as decreases in leverage and total employment. A combined result of this essay and the three previous and comparable papers indicates that, for the whole period from 1961 to 2003, privatization helps improve firm performance in a wide variety of countries, industries, and competitive environments. The second essay investigates the impact of macro corporate governance mechanisms (anti-director rights index, enforcement index, and corporate disclosure index) on the subsequent performance of 103 privatized firms around the world during 1993-2003. After controlling for endogeneity, the empirical results exhibit that macro governance mechanisms are important determinants of firm performance following privatization in both developed and developing countries. Finally, the third essay studies how internal control mechanisms (board size, board composition, CEO duality, and financial expertise of boards) affect the subsequent performance of 103 privatized firms around the world during 1993-2003. After controlling for endogeneity, the empirical results demonstrate that internal governance mechanisms (with the concentration on the role of board of directors) are important determinants of firm performance following privatization in only developing countries.