Firm Growth in Advanced Stages of Economic Transition: Evidence from Slovak Industry

This article analyzes the reaction of firms to transition in adjusting firm size. The author offers an empirical analysis in the context of the firm-growth model with emphasis on the presence of ownership and corporate-structure effects.There is no evidence for a general firm-growth/firm-size relationship. On the other hand, the author finds evidence that firm growth is a function of size for firms of a particular type. Specifically, there is an inverse growth-size relationship for privately owned joint-stock companies. Examining the character of these effects, the author concludes that their character is transitory: It corresponds to events related to exogenous settings of economic privatization and the economic restructuring process rather than tangible ownership or corporate-governance effects.