Building a Castle on Sand: Effects of Mass Privatization on Capital Market Creation in Transition Economies

In this paper we study the relationship between mass privatization and capital market development in the transition economies. The link is investigated empirically using a panel of data which includes most of the transition countries. Our results confirm the hypothesis that mass privatization exerted a negative influence on capital market functioning in the short and medium term. Results further indicate that in countries with mass privatization, the capital market was established and perceived only as a byproduct of the privatization process and did not serve as a source of capital for the corporate sector. This non-transparent market of thousands of securities caused negative investor sentiment and thus did not contribute to initiating economic growth.