Which Enterprises (Believe They) Have Soft budgets after Mass Privatization? Evidence from Mongolia

To ascertain the prevalence of soft budgets and to find causes of softness, we surveyed 251 privatized Mongolian enterprises, asking whether state aid was expected when financial difficulties arose. One quarter of the enterprises expected such soft-budget aid, a large proportion of which have central government ownership. We examine causes of soft budgets in addition to state ownership, but the state variable dominates. Results are robust when using either instrumental variables or bivariate probit to unmask unmeasured selection effects. Local government ownership has a much weaker effect than does central ownership.