Enterprise performance and ownership: The case of Ukraine

In this paper, we use a unique enterprise level random survey of 150 firms in Ukraine to test hypotheses on the relationship between enterprise performance and ownership in transitional economies. In particular, we explore whether privatisation has yielded improved company performance and whether specific ownership forms (insider, manager, worker, and outsider) have led to differentiated behaviour at the enterprise level. Our analysis also explores the determinants and ramifications of barter, a widespread phenomenon across the former Soviet Union. We refute the hypothesis that private ownership per se is associated with improved performance, and try to isolate any positive performance effects from outsider ownership. However, we do isolate some clear ownership effects, associated with insider ownership. We find barter to be associated with lower profitability, and to be less common in privatised firms. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.