Does Financial-Industrial Group Membership Affect Fixed Investment: Evidence from Russia

The current research estimates the accelerator type model of fixed investment using a Russian industrial enterprise dataset . This dataset contains individual firms’ accounting data for 1996 and 1997. The sample of firms was divided into three subsamples based on the ownership structure data. Registered Financial-Industrial Groups, unregistered Financial-Industrial Groups and non-group subsets were analyzed in order to compare sensitivities of investment to changes in internal liquidity in these three sets of firms. Controlling for size and investment opportunities it was found that in 1996-1997 the firms in unregistered groups invest a larger proportion of their retained earnings relative to the rest of the economy. We interpret this result as a proof of the hypothesis of better contract enforcement in unofficial groups compared to the rest of economy in the situation of lack of external financing of investment.accelerator model of fixed business investment, financial-industrial groups

Russian trade and foreign direct investment policy at the crossroads

This paper summarizes the estimates of what Russia will get from World Trade Organization accession and why. A key finding is the estimate that Russia will gain about $53 billion per year in the medium term from World Trade Organization accession and$177 billion per year in the long term, due largely to its own commitments to reform its own business services sectors. The paper summarizes the principal reform commitments that Russia has undertaken as part of its World Trade Organization accession negotiations, and compares them with those of other countries that have acceded to the World Trade Organization. It finds that the Russian commitments represent a liberal offer to the members of the World Trade Organization for admission, but they are typical of other transition countries that have acceded to the World Trade Organization. The authors discuss the outstanding issues in the Russian World Trade Organizaiton accession negotiations, and explain why Russian accession will result in the elimination of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment against Russia. They discuss Russian policies to attract foreign direct investment, including an assessment of the impact of the 2008 law on strategic sectors and the increased role of the state in the economy. Finally, the authors assess the importance of Russian accession to Russia and to the international trading community, and suggestions for most efficiently meeting the government’s diversification objective.Economic Theory&Research,World Trade Organization,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,Free Trade

Russian business groups: substitutes for missing institutions?

Numerous evidence demonstrate that firms affiliated with business groups in emerging markets outperform their independent counterparts. One of the proposed explanations for such a phenomenon is the more advanced groups’ internal markets structure compared to the rest of the economy. In this paper we test the hypothesis that internal capital markets within Russian business groups overcome the liquidity constraints problem widely spread outside groups. Our findings indicate that even if the groups’ internal capital markets do exist in Russian business groups, their efficiency is rather doubtful and the access to external financing by firms affiliated with the groups is constrained.

The Corporate Governance Role of the Media: Evidence from Russia

We study the effect of media coverage on corporate governance outcomes by focusing on Russia in the period 1999-2002. Russia provides a setting with multiple examples of corporate governance abuses, where traditional corporate governance mechanisms are ineffective, and where we can identify an exogenous source of news coverage arising from the presence of an investment fund, the Hermitage fund, that tried to shame companies by exposing their abuses in the international media. We find that the probability that a corporate governance abuse is reversed is affected by the coverage of the news in the Anglo-American press. The result is not due to the endogeneity of news reporting since this result holds even when we instrument media coverage with the presence of the Hermitage fund among its shareholders and the “natural” newsworthiness of the company involved. We confirm this evidence with a case study.

The Corporate Governance Role of the Media: Evidence from Russia

We study the effect of media coverage on corporate governance by focusing on Russia in the period 1999-2002. This setting offers us three ideal conditions for such a study: plenty of corporate governance violations, no alternative mechanisms to address them, and the presence of an investment fund (the Hermitage) that actively lobbies the international press to shame companies perpetrating those violations. We find that Hermitage’s lobbying is effective in increasing the coverage of corporate governance violations in the Anglo-American press. We also find that coverage in the Anglo-American press increases the probability that a corporate governance violation is reversed. This effect is present even when we instrument coverage with an exogenous determinant, i.e. the Hermitage’s portfolio composition at the beginning of the period. The Hermitage’s strategy seems to work in part by impacting Russian companies’ reputation abroad and in part by forcing regulators into action.

Бизнес-группы и неразвитые финансовые институты: пример России

The hypothesis that internal capital markets within Russian business groups overcome the liquidity constraints problem widely spread outside groups is tested. Our findings indicate that even if the groups’ internal capital markets do exist in Russian business groups, their efficiency is rather doubtful and the access to external financing by firms affiliated with the groups is constrained

Microsimulation Analysis of the Consequences of Monetization of Social Benefits in Russia

In 2004 a law regulating a replacement of some in-kind social benefits by cash payments was passed and liabilities for the benefit provisions were redistributed between federal and regional budgets. The objective of the paper is to study consequences of the ongoing and upcoming social benefits reforms. An estimation of the reforms conse-quences has been done by using a microsimulation modeling technique. A microsimulation model of the Russian population is built based on the data from the National Monitoring of Household Welfare and Participation in Social Programs (NOBUS).microsimulation; household welfare