Some implications of voucher privatization for corporate governance

This article focuses on the way Czech joint stock companies are governed and monitored. At first, it analyses implications of voucher privatisation for corporate governance and then explains the main features of its model applied in the Czech Republic (CR). It summarises results of an empirical research and a survey among 77 board members of large companies operating in the CR. The survey, which used face to face interviews based on a structured questionnaire, was accomplished in spring 1997. In the CR, the transformation of former state enterprises is characterised by their privatisation, as well as their search for a place in a globalise world economy. The emphasis placed on privatisation in the CR was unique compared to other economies in transition. The voucher scheme, which became a massive privatisation method, led to the emergence of a large number of publicly traded joint stock companies.