BRIC without B: Does ownership structure matters for firm performance in emerging economies?

This article tests the relationship between ownership and firm performance in emerging countries; Russia, India, and China. Annual financial and accounting data of 213 state-owned and 3,624 non-state-owned enterprises- for the period 2011–2015 are compiled from Orbis. The empirical results show that on average, the firm performance is negatively associated with state-owned enterprises in Russia, India and China. This is also confirmed with country-specific analysis except for Russia. These results suggest that among emerging countries, India and China’s state-owned enterprises are less profitable in comparison to non-state-owned enterprises. Lower profitability of state-owned enterprises is justified by the argument that the main goals of enterprises under state control are not in line.