The Land that Lean Manufacturing Forgot? Management Practices in Transition Countries

43 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2011 Last revised: 30 Jan 2023

See all articles by Nicholas Bloom

Nicholas Bloom

Stanford University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Helena Schweiger

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - Office of the Chief Economist

John Van Reenen

London School of Economics - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP); Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2011

Abstract

We have conducted the first survey on management practices in transition countries. We found that Central Asian transition countries, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have on average very poor management practices. Their average scores are below emerging countries such as Brazil, China and India. In contrast, the central European transition countries such as Poland and Lithuania operate with management practices that are only moderately worse than those of western European countries such as Germany. Since we find these practices are strongly linked to firm performance, this suggests poor management practices may be impeding the development of Central Asian transition countries. We find that competition, multinational ownership, private ownership and human capital are all strongly correlated with better management. This implies that the continued opening of markets to domestic and foreign competition, privatisation of state-owned firms and increased levels of workforce education should promote better management, and ultimately faster economic growth.

Suggested Citation

Bloom, Nicholas and Schweiger, Helena and Van Reenen, John Michael, The Land that Lean Manufacturing Forgot? Management Practices in Transition Countries (July 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17231, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1893386

Nicholas Bloom (Contact Author)

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Helena Schweiger

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - Office of the Chief Economist ( email )

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John Michael Van Reenen

London School of Economics - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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