Regional restructuring and manufacturing firm performance in a Central-Asian transition economy: observations from Kazakhstan

In this paper we analyse survey data in order to identify the regional performance and characteristics of manufacturing industry in Kazakhstan during the transition period of the late 1990s. Our analysis is based on a unique survey-based microeconomic dataset from 202 Kazakhstani manufacturing firms. We employ cross-sectional logit models in order to analyse the determinants of manufacturing firm performance in the period. We find that in addition to individual firm characteristics, the spatial aspects of this industrial restructuring are found to be a key determinant of firm performance. Moreover, these spatial restructuring effects appear to dominate both industry-specific or firm-specific effects. Our results therefore suggest that the process of economic transition is associated with significant regional industrial restructuring.