Mixed Enterprises Research Articles

State-Business Relations and Improvement of Corporate Governance in Russia

In this paper, we analyze the influence of the state on the improvement of corporate governance in Russia of the early 2000s. Taking into account the low quality of market institutions in the 1990s (i.e., the market failure phenomenon), we assume that state intervention as the “second best” institution had a positive impact in this case. Using a dataset of 822 joint-stock companies, we tested this hypothesis in two types of corporate models – state-owned or mixed firms and “politically connected” firms. The first model confirmed a strong positive influence of state ownership on the corporate governance in Russia in 2001-2004. The estimation results of this model are statistically robust in different specifications. We connect this result with attempts of the Russian government to use standard mechanisms and procedures of corporate governance to defend its property rights in its relations with state-owned and mixed enterprises.

Animal Husbandry Practices of Organic Farmers: An Appraisal

In Uttarakhand organic farming is being promoted through a special institution i.e. Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB) through registering the farmers and orienting them towards organic farming. Organic farmers currently practicing and marketing only organic crop products. However, their livestock production practices are also similar to recommended organic standards. Hence, to document their livestock production practices, a total of 180 registered organic farmers selected through multistage sampling technique studied during 2006-07. Cent percent of registered organic farmers were involved in mixed farming enterprises and most of them were with more than one livestock species (farm diversity). The breeds maintained by these farmers were of indigenous and they were raising livestock on the inputs met on farm and from the farms of similar agro-ecological regions. In view of the raising demand for organic livestock products locally as well as internationally, the organic promoting agencies have to focus on orienting these farmers towards stringent organic livestock standards so as to enable them to meet the organic livestock products demand locally as well as internationally.

THE PROVISION OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES THROUGH MIXED ENTERPRISES: THE ITALIAN CASE

ABSTRACT**: The rules regulating the creation of mixed enterprises companies (public‐private companies) for the provision of local public services have been subjected, in Italy, to a rather complex evolution over time. The new rules introduced allow the creation of a mixed private public enterprise, with either public or private majority; in any case the private shareholder must be selected through a public tender procedure. The data seems to show that mixed enterprises have been used by municipalities as a tool that allows the exploitation of economies of scale and of scope, without necessarily losing control of the leadership and direction of the local utility. Better flexibility of mixed enterprises is also shown by the proportion of mixed enterprises acting outside the territory which is higher than the proportion of public enterprises similarly engaged. Moreover the presence of multi‐service units is proportionally higher in mixed enterprises.

INTERNAL REGULATION BY MIXED ENTERPRISES: THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN WATER SECTOR

ABSTRACT**: This paper aims at proposing an economic analysis of mixed enterprises in local utilities. We suggest that the public service concession to mixed enterprises could embody a noteworthy substitute to the traditional public provision and the concession to totally private enterprises. The starting point of the entire analysis is that ownership allows the (public) owner to gather more information about the actual management of the firm, according to property rights theory. Following it, we conclude that under certain conditions mixed enterprises could significantly reduce asymmetric information between regulators and regulated firms by implementing a sort of ‘internal’ regulation. With more information, the public authority can stimulate the private operator to be more efficient and can monitor it more effectively with respect to the fulfilment of contractual obligations. Moreover, concerning the latter function, the board of directors of these enterprises can be the suitable place where public and private representatives can meet to solve all disputes arising from incomplete contracts.

The Postwar Compromise and the Future of North American Unionism

By most accounts, the long struggle of working people to entrench the basic right to unionize was realized during the Great Depression and after the Second World War. For North America, the American Wagner Act of 1935 and the PC 1003/Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of 1948 in Canada have often been seen together as the equivalent of organized labour's Magna Carta; for the first time labour rights would be protected by the state, including the basic rights to collectively bargain and to strike. For many of these observers, the era of free collective had arrived. As H. D. Woods argued in the report by the Canadian Task Force into Industrial Relations in 1968, despite some misgivings by employers, it eventually became apparent that unions and collective bargaining were concomitants of a mixed enterprise economy. The state then assumed the task of establishing a framework of rights and responsibilities within which management and organized labour were to conduct their relations.' While labour historians have been more reluctant to point to the natural evolution of labour relations in the postwar period, among many observers the extension of industrial democracy inherent in the postwar compromise continues to be held up as labour's greatest political and economic v ic t~ry .~ Not surprisingly, this interpretation of the postwar compromise has come under significant pressure by left historians and critical legal theorists who have

Privatization, corporatization, ownership forms and their effects on the performance of the world's major airports

This paper focuses on measuring and comparing productive efficiency and profitability among airports owned and operated by government departments, 100% government-owned corporations, independent airport authorities, mixed enterprises with government majority ownership and mixed enterprises with private majority ownership. The analysis is based on a cross-sectional, time-series dataset (2001–2003) for the major Asia-Pacific, European and North American airports. There is strong evidence that airports with government majority ownership and those owned by multi-level of government are significantly less efficient than airports with a private majority ownership; there is no statistically significant evidence to suggest that airports owned and operated by US government branches, independent airport authorities in North America, or airports elsewhere operated by 100% government corporations have lower operating efficiency than airports with a private majority ownership; airports with a private majority ownership achieve significantly higher operating profit margins than other airports; whereas airports with government majority ownership or multi-level government ownership have the lowest operating profit margin; and generally, airports with a private majority ownership derive a much higher proportion of their total revenue from non-aviation services than any other category of airports while offering significantly lower aeronautical charges than airports in other ownership categories excluding US airports. The results suggest that private–public–partnership with minority private sector participation and multi-level governments’ ownership should be avoided, supporting the majority private sector ownership and operation of airports.

Corporate Performance of Mixed Enterprises

We delineate Hong Kong listed corporations into three levels of privatization: the fully privatized blue chips, semi‐privatized red chips and the least privatized H shares. Both H shares and red chips are mixed enterprises that mimic private ownership with joint government and private stock ownership. We find that mixed enterprises are less profitable and lower valued than the fully privatized blue chips, but red chips are more efficient and perform better than blue chips when market confidence swings to their favor. Regression analysis suggests that increased stock ownership by the government and increased emolument incentives are counterproductive to profitability, especially in bad economic times of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis.

Ownership and performance in Chinese manufacturing industry

The relation between various ownership types and performance measures for 1036 firms in China is examined. State owned enterprises (SOE) are consistently less profitable than mixed enterprises (ME), collective owned enterprises (COE), joint ventures (JV), and foreign owned enterprises (FOE). The SOEs and FOEs are also less productive than MEs, COEs and JVs. The surprisingly low productivity for FOEs may result from the learning curve for international investors doing business in China. Owned by local governments, COEs are more profitable and productive than the central government owned SOEs, possibly because of closer monitoring and harder budget constraints, and better employees and management. The performance of MEs, mostly newly privatized firms, is weaker when related to assets, possibly due to the anomaly that capital investments following their public offerings are not yet on line. The co-existence of economies of scale and over-employment is also evident among Chinese enterprises.

RELEVANCE OF THE IMPROVED INTEGRATED FARM PLANNING APPROACH AND FARM MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

An integrated farm planning approach was applied in an area with mixed farming enterprises to promote farming efficiency. Using linear programming, 29 farm plans were developed. The variable planning cost amounted to R2485,31 per farmer while the expected net benefit/cost ratio was 1,757. Two years after completion of the last plan a research project was conducted to determinc the extent of plan implementation, reasons for deviations from planned proposals, and guidelines for future planning endeavours. In another research project, farmers' performance, based on their management practices, was measured. A scale that measured mangement aptitude was adapted and used to measure farmers' management performance. The latter was expressed in terms of the farmers' performance index (PI), and it was found that large differences occurred in the PI among farmers (between 27,6 and 99,5). To accommodate all cases, the farmers were divided into three groups according to PI. Statistically significant differences (but not in all cases) were found between farmers with different biographies, as well as between farmers with certain management practices. These differences are related to the implementation of new farming systems and the relevance for future use is discussed.

The development of the transportation sector in Syria and the actual investment policy

Fast, smooth and economic transportation, not only of goods and raw materials, but of people as well, is essential to a country's economic development. Just a few years ago both sectors in Syria left a lot to be desired. In the early 1990s the bulk haulage offreight was essentially serviced by the public sector with large organizational units for cross country haulage by truck or using less efficient railways. There actually were a great many hauliers in the private sector, but these were family concerns each operating only a very few, generally ageing, vehicles. The only exceptions were Syrian road haulage companies in some villages of the Qalamoun which specialised in the transit trade.! Passenger transport was dominated by a lot of small private carriers with fleets of rickety and generally obsolete collective taxis, spartan microbuses and long distance coaches. Only a few larger private firms provided more comfortable buses. In the public sector a single major company belonging to the Defence Ministry was used not only to carry military personnel, but could also be used by civilians for inner city and cross country transport. A beneficial mixed sector offshoot was the Karnaq Company with a fleet of around 80 luxury long distance coaches, owned 90 per cent by the public sector and 10 per cent by the private sector. Transtour/Europcar, another mixed sector enterprise, offered similar wellappointed coaches and served the country's airports and major inter-city routes with fast, but comparatively expensive, large estate cars. A tourist's only chance was to hire one of these chauffeur-driven vehicles at a price. Major shortages were a feature of the overall situation in both transport sectors in the early 1990s. The transportation supply position in the freight sector peaked dramatically during harvesting, particularly of cotton and sugar beet, agricultural products to which Syria attaches strategic importance.2 Deficiencies in inter-city passenger transport resulted in

Sustainble engineering for mixed enterprise production process on-line schedule optimazation

The computer science promotes the novel combination of Artificial Intelligent and Real-Time Intelligent Technology for both advantages combined. The Real-Time Intelligent Schedule Policy plus Direct Activety Method can realize and gain the better final control and schedule results for direct type and continuous type industries really.

A case-control study on bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region (Italy)

A case-control study was undertaken to provide information about the role of some husbandry practices and farm characteristics in the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region. Twenty-seven breeding herds where a positive result to the single intradermal cervical tuberculin test was confirmed by post-mortem examination were compared with seventy-four herds which had been free of the disease for at least three years. Epidemiological information was collected on farms. The factors taken into account in the study were chosen on the basis of their epidemiological plausibility and of the local livestock characteristics. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyse the data. Factors identified as possibly involved in increasing the risk of bovine tuberculosis in the Veneto Region were the presence of mixed (dairy and beef) enterprises (OR=4.9, P=0.001) and of cattle purchase (OR=5.8; P=0.003). Other factors (such as herd size, housing system, summer mountain pasture, possible contact with wild animals, and indirect contacts with other herds) did not appear to significantly contribute to tuberculosis presence in this area. The results of this case-control study support the hypothesis that in the Veneto Region bovine tuberculosis infection is still associated with classical risk factors both (directly or indirectly) related to cattle movements.

The dual currency bifurcation of Cuba’s economy in the 1990s: Causes, consequences and cures

In the 1990s, there has been a growing split in Cuba’s economy between the traditional socialist peso-based component and the internationalized dollar-oriented and marketized component. This schism has been caused by a conjuncture of circumstances, including the expansion of tourism and foreign and mixed enterprise; the contraction and loss of confidence in the socialist economy; the weakening of the monetary role of the peso (owing to the rapid inflation arising from the financing of the fiscal deficit through money creation), and a grossly overvalued exchange rate. This dual currency and structural bifurcation of the economy shaped the pattern of income distribution, thereby influencing the economic behaviour of the Cuban people.

Ovine Myeloencephalitis-Leukomyelomalacia Associated with a Sarcocystis-Like Protozoan

Bilateral pelvic limb paresis developed in 7 of 15 10-month-old Blueface Leicester ram lambs on a mixed enterprise farm in the North of England. Clinical signs were principally mild to severe paresis of the pelvic limbs. Two mildly affected lambs recovered. Multifocal spinal cord white matter edema and necrosis, glial nodules, and mild to moderate nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis were the principal findings in 3 severely paretic lambs examined histologically. Protozoan bodies (12.7-23.0 microns) that stained immunocytochemically for Sarcocystis epitopes were in spinal cord glial cells of 2 of 3 lambs. Protozoa did not react immunocytochemically with anti-Toxoplasma gondii or Neospora canium antisera. Serology indicated there was recent exposure to Sarcocystis spp. in some surviving lambs. These cases resembled those in previous reports of paresis due to an unidentified Sarcocystis-like protozoan in sheep (ovine protozoan myeloencephalitis) in the British Isles, the USA, France, Australia, and New Zealand.

The development of a prototype computerised management information system for a mixed enterprise farm

The design and implementation of a prototype computerised management information system for a large mixed enterprise farm is described. The prototype was developed for the 600-ha farm run by University College Dublin comprising dairy, beef, sheep, pigs and arable crop production. Each enterprise performs both as a commercial unit and a research and educational facility, and is managed by academic staff. A farm manager has operational control of the whole farm, and each enterprise is serviced centrally from a farm office. This paper outlines the major management information requirements on the farm and the information system developed to satisfy them. Specific methods for unifying common information processes and structures for recording and analysing research-oriented data are detailed. The system was coded in COBOL and implemented on a minicomputer on an experimental basis. An alternative approach using a network of microcomputers was explored by taking the information subsystem of one enterprise and using a microcomputer-based database software package, dBaseIII+, to implement the module design. It was concluded that for a mixed enterprise farm the best approach is to use microcomputer-based information systems for each enterprise, integrated via a network into an overall management system. The requirements of such a system and the potential for upgrading with other hardware and software are discussed.

Organizational form and performance in urban mass transit

Ownership and management for urban mass transit organizations have taken many forms over the years, with publicly‐owned and managed systems now dominant. In recent years, however, strong economic and political forces have increased pressures for privatizing urban mass transit services. This review analyses 20 studies from three countries (predominantly the U.S.A.) on the relationship between organizational form and fixed‐route bus transit performance. It concludes that previous research has not made a persuasive case for the whole‐scale privatization of either ownership or management of urban mass transit organization. Conclusions here are intended to apply to the U.S.A. as well as other countries with mixed enterprise systems in which choices about organizational form may have some consequence for performance.

Fair use and a fair go.

Pastoral managers face a bewildering array of management options while striving to remain viable. Many researchers and extension officers are forced to specialise, and "do good science" at the expense of working within a broader picture of practical station management. As a result their information and advice is often directed towards only part of a property's total management system. The development of new advisory tools, many of them using micro-computers, offer government officers and pastoral managers alike greater opportunities for effective interaction. We present the philosophy and structure of one tool, which has evolved with these developments, RANGEPACK HerdEcon, a dynamic herd or flock model lied to property cash flows. It can operate at a simple level initially, but it is able to mimic complex situations just as easily. Designed to accommodate sheep, cattle or mixed enterprises, it will enable a pastoral manager or an extension officer to develop management strategies for a particular property, which deal effectively with climatic variation, resultant animal production and subsequent cash flows. RANGEPACK HerdEcon will run on IBM compatible personal computers with at ~kast 512k of RAM.

Strategic decisions in pastoral management.

Pastoral managers face a bewildering array of management options while striving to remain viable. Many researchers and extension officers are forced to specialise, and "do good science" at the expense of working within a broader picture of practical station management. As a result their information and advice is often directed towards only part of a property's total management system. The development of new advisory tools, many of them using micro-computers, offer government officers and pastoral managers alike greater opportunities for effective interaction. We present the philosophy and structure of one tool, which has evolved with these developments, RANGEPACK HerdEcon, a dynamic herd or flock model linked to property cash flows. It can operate at a simple level initially, but it is able to mimic complex situations just as easily. Designed to accommodate sheep, cattle or mixed enterprises, it will enable a pastoral manager or an extension officer to develop management strategies for a particular property, which deal effectively with climatic variation, resultant animal production and subsequent cash flows. RANGEPACK HerdEcon will run on IBM compatible personal computers with at least 512k of RAM.

Performance Evaluation of State-Owned Enterprises in Theory and Practice

This study explores the goal orientation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with a view to develop a behavioral theory of SOEs. It is set in India, where as in many other countries the government expects SOEs to promote the “public interest” rather than maximize profits. The research design consisted in searching for patterns in the subjective evaluations of a set of Indian SOEs by critical environmental actors (senior bureaucrats and influential journalists). The study attempted to get at each respondent's “espoused theory” for performance evaluation as well as his or her “theory-in-use,” and compared both with official goals as well as the prescriptions of welfare economists. Five models of performance evaluation, varying in criteria and weighting schemes, were considered. The results showed—with surprising consistency—that commercial profitability was the most important criterion that explained bureaucrats' subjective evaluations. Lack of comprehensive information seemed to accentuate their reliance on profitability—but not by very much. For a minority of bureaucrats (Type 1), the more important explanation seemed to be their “incorrect” belief that SOEs could be judged like private firms, official policy notwithstanding. For the majority (Type 2), who espoused views consistent with official policy, the explanation seemed to be conceptual confusion or double standards. Both types also behaved as if they would like SOEs to maximize profitability rather than just break even or earn a reasonable return. Some of these findings were true for responding journalists as well. Given these results, managers of Indian SOEs can be expected to seek profits not only to reduce financial dependence on government but also to gain a measure of external legitimacy. Recognizing the importance of profitability as a criterion-in-use, they can be expected to propose strategies that would increase their firm's profitability and resist those that would reduce it, regardless of official goals. Where managers are free to act independently, profitability may prevail as the dominant decision criterion, but where they are not, the outcome may depend on more complex factors. More generally, the profit motive in SOEs may be as strong or stronger than it appeared to be in India in countries with (a) less sophisticated administrative systems or personnel; (b) an official ideology more to the right than in “socialist” India; and (c) a higher proportion of mixed enterprises. The paper concludes with the implications of these findings for the design of performance evaluation systems at the government-SOE interface.

The Mixed Ownership Corporation as an Instrument of Public Policy

In a recent survey article on public enterprise, Harvey Feigenbaum asks, why should firms organized exactly as those in the private sector, responding independently to the incentives of highly imperfect markets, act any differently than those privately owned?1 Feigenbaum cites several western European cases in support of his argument that state ownership is no guarantee that a corporation will respond to different signals and pursue different goals than its privately owned counterparts. At the level of corporate decision-making, managerial autonomy and profitability insulated the state-owned corporations from government influence. Feigenbaum questions whether the corporate form of organization for the state's commercial activities, commonly assumed to combine features of business efficiency with policy objectives, does not in fact possess biases toward organizational autonomy and market (rather than government) responsiveness which render it problematic as an instrument of public policy. This paper addresses the question of whether the mixed ownership corporation, with equity divided between the state and private investors, is a viable means for the pursuit of public policy goals. Based on an examination of selected cases from Canada, Britain, and France, it identifies the factors which have determined the relationship of these corporations to the policy preferences of government. In order to do this, the analysis proceeds through a review of the theoretical literature on the partnership of public and private capital, an examination of several cases of mixed ownership, and a discussion of the conditions which have determined the tractability of the mixed ownership firm as an instrument of public policy. The practical importance of studying the relationship of mixed enterprise to public policy is demonstrated by the fact that, internationally, some of the largest corporations in the noncommunist world represent partnerships of state and private sector capital.2 Among the most prominent cases are British Petroleum (ranked 8 by sales, 1982), West Germany's VEBA (26, involved in the production of coal, gas, chemicals, and electricity), Compagnie Franqaise de Petroles (31), Elf-Aquitaine (42), Volkswagenwerk (44), and Renault (50).3 Below the level of these world giants, many of western Europe's largest firms are mixed enterprises. The list includes the Compagnie Generale d'Electricite (France, ranked 30 by sales among western European corporations in 1982), Montedison (Italy, 38, a holding company involved in the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals), ENPETROL (Spain, 67, oil refining), Cockerill Sambre (Belgium, 96, iron and steel), Norsk Hydro (Norway, 98, nitrogen and magnesium products, plastic production), Enso-Gutzeit (Finland, 234, wood and paper products), and SEAT (Spain, 275, automobile manufacturing). Problems of inadequate information and cross-national differences in financial practices render impossible a precise measurement of the dimensions of the mixed enterprise sector.