American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Do Private Equity Owned Firms Have Better Management Practices?
American Economic Review
vol. 105,
no. 5, May 2015
(pp. 442–46)
Abstract
Using an innovative survey measure of management practices on over 15,000 firms, we find private equity firms are better managed than government, family, and privately owned firms, and have similar management to publicly listed firms. This is true both in developed and developing countries. Looking at management practices in detail we find that private equity owned firms have strong people management practices (hiring, firing, pay, and promotions), but even stronger monitoring management practices (lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and monitoring). Plant managers working in private equity owned firms also report greater autonomy from headquarters over sales, marketing, and new product introduction.Citation
Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. 2015. "Do Private Equity Owned Firms Have Better Management Practices?" American Economic Review 105 (5): 442–46. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151000Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G24 Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage; Ratings and Ratings Agencies
- G32 Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
- G34 Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance
- M10 Business Administration: General