Ichiro Iwasaki

Regional Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment in Russia

The objective of this article is to develop a model of the regional distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Russia based on panel data for 1996–2003 taking into consideration implications shown in preceding studies on the geography of FDI in Russia. Through descriptive statistical and econometric analysis, the following conclusions were reached. First, there is a notable deviation of FDI in Russia among regions; however, a clear geographical pattern, similar to that in Central and Eastern European countries and China, can not be observed. Second, resource endowments, market factors and social development factors, to which the preceding studies attach importance as determinants for the regional selection of FDI, also proved to have high significance and explanatory power in the empirical analysis. In addition, it has been suggested that climate and favourable regionally discriminatory FDI measures are possible investment factors. Third, evidence suggesting that the Russian financial crisis in 1998 had a statistically significant influence on the decision-making process of foreign investors was not found in this analysis.

Enterprise Reform and Corporate Governance in Russia: A Quantitative Survey

The objective of this paper is to verify the range and depth of the study on corporate governance in Russia through a comprehensive survey of 202 research works. With regard to the internal structure of Russian corporations, a great deal of research has been conducted in a relatively short time since the collapse of the Soviet Union by many highly motivated researchers, who have provided insightful perspectives. These achievements, however, place too much emphasis on the empirical analysis of the interrelation between ownership structure and corporate restructuring, leaving some critical themes open for further discussion. As the twenty-first century begins, a well-balanced research base should be established in this field in order to identify the reality of Russian corporations from a multifaceted perspective. Copyright 2007 The Author Journal compilation

Evolution of the Government-Business Relationship and Economic Performance in the Former Soviet States * - Order State, Rescue State, Punish State -

The objective of this paper is to elucidate the relationship between the reform process and economic performance in the states of the former Soviet Union (FSU). There were two strategies used by the former Soviet states to cope with the collapse of the USSR. Some of the FSU countries, in an effort to overcome the institutional vacuum caused by the disintegration of the federal economy, centralized their government authority to manage industry. Others decentralized power in an attempt to regain economic independence for domestic enterprises. To evaluate the essential differences and progress gaps among transition strategies, FSU countries can be divided into three groups, which reflect variations in institutional control of the government-business relationships. The differences in economic performance in FSU countries can be explained to some extent by examining the diversity of institutional patterns that characterize each category. The results of various empirical analyses positively support the validity of such an analytical framework. In this sense, this paper presents a new viewpoint on the transition process in FSU countries that may complement that shown in existing literature.

Corporate Law and Governance Mechanism in Russia

Understanding the formal corporate structure and the legal rights of stakeholders is needed when examining the problems of corporate governance. In Russia, recent enhancements to the legal system have helped to alleviate the conflict between ownership and management, and the situation is improving. Economic studies on the legal structure of Russian firms, however, are not sufficient to date. Thus, this chapter aims to illuminate the legislative framework, with special attention to the governance mechanism of the joint-stock companies.

Corporate Restructuring and the Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Hungary

In May 2004, Hungary joined the EU with seven other former socialist countries in CEE and the Baltic region, materializing the countries long-cherished dream of re-integrating with Europe. The fifteen-year reform efforts to tackle systemic transformation by the Hungarian government and its citizens finally paid off after their decision to break away from the socialist regime. The road to the EU accession has not been easy since the ‘European Agreements’, which proclaimed that the European club would allow membership from CEE countries, were signed in December 1991. However, Hungary had always been a ‘front runner’ in the process of the EU enlargement towards the east.

The governance mechanism of Russian firms: its self-enforcing nature and limitations

The legal form of business enterprises in contemporary Russia is diversified to almost the same extent as those in major advanced countries. Joint-stock companies are now the most common form of incorporation among leading industrial enterprises. The law on joint-stock companies in Russia provides for the governance mechanism of joint-stock companies, in order to implement the concept of a ‘self-enforcing’ organisation in which the legal code of business management should be observed voluntarily by managers and large stockholders. This fundamental idea is embodied in many aspects of the current system, including the mechanism of management and supervision characterised as ‘diarchial leadership’, the balance of power between stockholders and corporate officers, and the internal audit system. However, the self-enforcing nature of the Russian enterprise has been undermined by a number of factors, including the overwhelming expansion of closed joint-stock companies, the predominance of insider ownership, the short history of internal auditing and the lack of legal enforcement power. As a result, breaches of company law are rampant in Russia today. This raises serious problems for the Russian corporate system, along with the legal peculiarity of privatised firms and peoples enterprises, which complicates the system of joint-stock companies and deprives it of transparency.

Organizational Culture and Corporate Governance in Russia : A Study of Managerial Turnover

In this article we investigate the possible impact of ownership structure and corporate performance on managerial turnover using a unique dataset of Russian corporations. We argue that Russia is regarded as a country with a highly authoritarian and collectivism-oriented national culture and this peculiarity is the key to disentangling the puzzle of the statistically weaker relationship between firm performance and CEO renewal in Russian firms. We deal not only with CEO dismissal but also managerial turnover within a company as a whole. By conducting multinomial analysis that incorporates both factors, we found a significant relationship between firm performance and CEO dismissal, while, consistent with most previous studies, a standard logit analysis of CEO turnover revealed no clear relationships. We also found that the presence of a dominant shareholder significantly increased the likelihood of turnover of the whole management team, while foreign ownership tended to cause partial (CEO only) turnover.

Legal Forms of Joint-Stock Companies and Corporate Behavior in Russia

English translation

The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Transition Economies: A Meta-Analysis

In this paper, we conduct a meta-analysis of studies that empirically examine the relationship between economic transformation and foreign direct investment (FDI) performance in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union over the past quarter century. More specifically, we synthesize the empirical evidence reported in previous studies that deal with the determinants of FDI in transition economies, focusing on the impacts of transition factors. We also perform meta-regression analysis to specify determinant factors of the heterogeneity among the relevant studies and the presence of publication selection bias. We find that the existing literature reports a statistically significant nonzero effect as a whole, and a genuine effect is confirmed for some FDI determinants beyond the publication selection bias.

The Nested Variable Model of FDI Spillover Effects Estimation Using Hungarian Panel Data

A new empirical model is presented that considers the productivity spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) by focusing on the multi-layered structure of industrial classifications. In this model, the market presence of horizontal FDI in a host country is expressed using multiple spillover variables with a nested structure corresponding to the aggregated level of industrial classification. Using large-scale firm-level data from Hungary, we estimated the nested variable model and verified horizontal FDI spillover effects that cannot be captured with the conventional model having a single horizontal variable.