Leviathan as a Minority Shareholder: A Study of Equity Purchases by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), 1995-2003

There is a growing literature comparing the performance of private vs. state-owned companies. Yet, there is little work examining the effects of having the government as a minority shareholder of private companies. We conduct such a study using data for 296 publicly-traded corporations in Brazil, looking at the effects of equity purchases by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) on firm performance between 1995 and 2003. Our fixed-effects regressions show that BNDES's purchases of equity lead to increases in return on assets and investment in fixed assets. Finally, we find that the positive effect of BNDES' equity purchases is reduced when the target firms belong to state-owned and private pyramidal groups. Therefore, our argue that having development banks owning minority stakes can have a positive effect on performance as long as they promote long-term investments and are shielded from governmental interference and potential minority shareholder expropriation.

The measurement of social impact and opportunities for research in business administration

In the last decades, management scholars have examined ways through which firms can build profitable operations while at the same time addressing pressing social and environmental concerns. But how can organizations ascertain whether their isolated or collaborative efforts are truly generating positive impact to their target populations? Measuring real impact requires addressing several issues related to causality, comparability, and cost (given that most methods require customized data collection and analysis). In this article, I briefly discuss alternative methods to assess impact and then suggest novel research avenues to inform the debate on how to measure impact and how impact measurement practices can help organizations blend social and economic goals

The measurement of social impact and opportunities for research in business administration

In the last decades, management scholars have examined ways through which firms can build profitable operations while at the same time addressing pressing social and environmental concerns. But how can organizations ascertain whether their isolated or collaborative efforts are truly generating positive impact to their target populations? Measuring real impact requires addressing several issues related to causality, comparability, and cost (given that most methods require customized data collection and analysis). In this article, I briefly discuss alternative methods to assess impact and then suggest novel research avenues to inform the debate on how to measure impact and how impact measurement practices can help organizations blend social and economic goals

Leviathan in Business: Varieties of State Capitalism and their Implications for Economic Performance

In this paper we document the extent and reach of state capitalism around the world and explore its economic implications. We focus on governmental provision of capital to corporations – either equity or debt – as a defining feature of state capitalism. We present a stylized distinction between two broad, general varieties of state capitalism: one through majority control of publicly traded companies (e.g. state-controlled SOEs) and a hybrid form that relies on minority investments in companies by development banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and the government itself. We label these two alternative modes Leviathan as a majority investor and Leviathan as a minority investor, respectively. Next we differentiate between these two modes by describing their key fundamental traits and the conditions that should make each mode more conducive to development and superior economic performance