Eastern Europe
Enterprise reform

Eastern Europe's enterprises are undergoing various forms of corporate restructuring. Some governments are undertaking restructuring before privatization, some delegate restructuring to private-sector institutions before offering shares to the public, and others are making public share offers before restructuring. In Discussion Paper No. 700, Wendy Carlin and Programme Director Colin Mayer argue that the recent theoretical literature on corporate ownership and vertical integration points to four factors as central to the reform process: incomplete contracts between the state, investors and managers; complementarity between the assets of different stakeholders; the relative importance of assets; and the relative abilities of different stakeholders. They document in some detail the privatization process in East Germany and consider its implications for the rest of the region.

Colin Mayer presented this paper at a December lunchtime meeting, reported more fully in this issue of the Bulletin.

Restructuring Enterprises in Eastern Europe
Wendy Carlin and Colin Mayer

Discussion Paper No. 700, July 1992 (AM)