Structural adjustment, ownership transformation, and size in Polish industry

Luca Barbone, Marchetti, Jr., Domenico and Stefano Paternostro

No 1624, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: The authors argue that significant adjustment took place in Polish industry after Poland's 1990 reforms. They analyze data on two- and three-digit manufacturing industries, disaggregated by firm owner ship and size. By applying a statistical model to labor productivity growth, they try to disentangle structural determinants of the recovery from cyclical determinants. They contend that structural determinants outweigh cyclical ones. They find that the productive response of state enterprises was markedly different from that of private firms--private firms outperformed state enterprises (just as anecdotal evidence suggested). Size also matters, at least among private firms. Generally, there seem to be increasing returns to scale for private firms, except for very large enterprises (many of which were previously state-owned and may need further restructuring). The fact that size does not appear to matter among public enterprises suggests that several of them have not yet adopted optimal technologies and production processes.

Keywords: Construction Industry; Common Carriers Industry; Food & Beverage Industry; General Manufacturing; Pulp & Paper Industry; Plastics & Rubber Industry; Labor Markets; State Owned Enterprise Reform; Public Sector Administrative & Civil Service Reform; International Trade and Trade Rules; Privatization; Energy Privatization; Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies; Democratic Government; Economics and Finance of Public Institution Development; Public Sector Administrative and Civil Service Reform; De Facto Governments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-07-31
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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