EMBRACING THE SECOND BEST? SYNCHRONIZATION OF REFORM SPEEDS, EXCESS HIGH DISCRETION SLACK, AND PERFORMANCE OF TRANSITION ECONOMY FIRMS

I extend the institution-based view by adopting a horse race perspective on pro-market reforms. Specifically, I study how the synchronization of reform speeds (the extent of coordination across a country's reform rates of implementation) affects the performance of transition economy firms. I suggest that synchronized faster reforms (the horse race) yield mutually reinforcing and complementary benefits that enhance firm performance. Additionally, I propose that greater excess high discretion slack (the degree of internally generated excess liquidity a firm has after external demands on the firm's financial resources are met) further strengthens this positive relationship because it allows firms to pursue aggressively the market opportunities that proliferate in the rapidly transforming economy. Tests on a sample of 211 firms from 14 transition economies during 1991 to 2009 support this framework. Copyright c 2014 Strategic Management Society.