Development of Ownership Structure and its Effect on Performance: Czech Firms from Mass Privatization

This paper works with a broad data sample of Czech voucher-privatized firms during 1996 - 1999. It analyzes the development of ownership structure and consequently its effect on a firm's performance Ownership concentration had been quite high in 1996 and steadily increased. The single largest owner was found to be a decisive shareholder. Industrial companies have been the most stable shareholder and recorded the largest ownership gains. Ownership concentration alone does not explain a change in a firm’s performance and no industry sector was found to have a specific effect on it. We found evidence that several types of owners have an effect on certain performance measures. However, there does not exist support that type of owner has an effect on a firm's performance in general.