The performance of newly privatized firms in selected MENA countries: The role of ownership structure, governance and liberalization policies ☆ Samy Ben Naceur a , Samir Ghazouani b , Mohammed Omran c,d, ⁎ a Laboratoire d'Economie et Finance Appliquées (LEFA), and Institut des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (IHEC), University 7 November at Carthage, 2016 Carthage, Tunisia b Laboratoire d'Economie et Finance Appliquées (LEFA), and Institut Supérieur de Comptabilité and d'Administration des Entreprises (ISCAE), University of Manouba, Campus Universitaire de Manouba, 2010 Manouba, Tunisia c International Monetary Fund, Middle East and Central Asia Department, 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431, USA d Arab Academy for Science and Technology, College of Management and Technology, Miami, Alexandria, Egypt, PO. Box. 1029 Available online 27 October 2006 Abstract The paper analyzes 95 newly privatized firms (NPFs) in four Middle Eastern and North African countries (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey). We find that these firms experienced significant increases in profitability and operating efficiency, and significant declines in employment and leverage. We also document strong performance improvements for firms that did remain state-owned, that were not sold to foreigners, and that came from Egypt. Job losses are higher in Egypt and in firms where the state is no longer in control. Also, the results indicate that revenue firms and NPFs in Morocco display significantly less leverage than control firms and those from other countries. We find that profitability changes are negatively related to state control and positively related to foreign ownership. Trade openness, change in real GDP over the privatization window, index of investor protection, and foreign ownership are important determinants of the changes in sales efficiency and output. These findings suggest that NPFs become more International Review of Financial Analysis 16 (2007) 332 – 353 ☆ The views expressed in this presentation reflect our own views and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF, the managing director, the executive board, or IMF policy. ⁎ Corresponding author. International Monetary Fund, Middle East and Central Asia Department, 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431, USA. E-mail addresses: sbennaceur@lycos.com (S. Ben Naceur), samir.ghazouani@fsegt.rnu.tn (S. Ghazouani), momran@imf.org, momran@aast.edu (M. Omran). 1057-5219/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.irfa.2006.09.006