The perception of role-environment of 131 chief executives of public and privately owned industrial enterprises is examined to determine whether or not ownership difference results in different institutional milieus. No significant differences were found in the executives' perceptions of the external environmental influences on their decision autonomy, but differences were found in their satisfaction with job rewards. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the public-private ownership differentiation is not useful as a theoretical framework for predicting differences in the institutional environment of organizations affiliated with these forms of ownership.