There is growing interest in how governments shape industries and influence firm performance. Using a database of 296 firms traded on the São Paulo stock exchange between 1995 and 2003, we find having BNDES (the Brazilian National Development Bank) as a minority owner to increase firms' return...

A large legal and economic literature describes how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) suffer from a variety of agency and political problems. Less theory and evidence, however, have been generated about the reasons why state-owned enterprises listed in stock markets manage to attract investors to...