From state to private ownership：Issues from strategic industries.pdfVIP

Journal of Banking Finance 33 (2009) 367–379 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Banking Finance journal homepage: /locate/jbf From state to private ownership: Issues from strategic industries q Narjess Boubakri a,*, Jean-Claude Cosset b, Omrane Guedhami c,d a American University of Sharjah, School of Business and Management, Pb. 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates b HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada QC H3T 2A7 c Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA d Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada NF A1B 3X5 a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper investigates the effects of privatization for a panel of 189 firms from strategic industries head- Received 12 April 2008 quartered in 39 countries, and privatized between 1984 and 2002. Strategic firms can hardly be com- Accepted 18 August 2008 pared to manufacturing or competitive industries as they are generally under state monopoly, and Available online 31 August 2008 involve specific issues such as regulation, political and institutional constraints. We examine the change in ownership and postprivatization means of control by the government, and assess whether positive JEL classification: changes in performance obtain in these particular industries that include firms from the financial, mining, L33 steel, t