Privatization, foreign acquisition, and firm performance: a new empirical methodology and its application to Hungary

This study examines the effects of ownership transformation from the state to the private sector on firm performance in the post-privatization period using annual census-type data of Hungarian enterprises for the early 2000s. The empirical methodology designed to overcome the data limitations arising from an insufficient observation period effectively captured restructuring efforts by new owners and company managers and provided strong empirical evidence of the close relationship between ownership transformation and firm performance