State-owned enterprise

Last updated

A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goods at lower prices, implement government policies, or serve remote areas where private businesses are scarce. The government typically holds full or majority ownership and oversees operations. SOEs have a distinct legal structure, with financial and developmental goals, like making services more accessible while earning profit (such as a state railway). [1] They can be considered as government-affiliated entities designed to meet commercial and state capitalist objectives. [2] [3]

Contents

Terminology

The terminology around the term state-owned enterprise is murky. All three words in the term are challenged and subject to interpretation. First, it is debatable what the term "state" implies (e.g., it is unclear whether municipally owned corporations and enterprises held by regional public bodies are considered state-owned). Next, it is contestable under what circumstances a SOE qualifies as "owned" by a state (SOEs can be fully owned or partially owned; it is difficult to determine categorically what level of state ownership would qualify an entity to be considered as state-owned since governments can also own regular stock, without implying any special interference). Finally, the term "enterprise" is challenged, as it implies statutes in private law which may not always be present, and so the term "corporations" is frequently used instead. [4] [5]

Thus, SOEs are known under many other terms: state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, government-owned company, government controlled company, government controlled enterprise, government-owned corporation, government-sponsored enterprise, commercial government agency, state-privatised industry public sector undertaking, or parastatal, among others. In some Commonwealth realms, ownership by The Crown is highlighted in the predominant local terminology, with SOEs in Canada referred to as a "Crown corporation", and in New Zealand as a "Crown entity".

The term "government-linked company" (GLC) is sometimes used, for example in Malaysia, [6] to refer to private or public (listed on a stock exchange) corporate entities in which the government acquires a stake using a holding company. The two main definitions of GLCs are dependent on the proportion of the corporate entity a government owns. One definition [ citation needed ] purports that a company is classified as a GLC if a government owns an effective controlling interest (more than 50%), while the second definition [ citation needed ] suggests that any corporate entity that has a government as a shareholder is a GLC.

The act of turning a part of government bureaucracy into a SOE is called corporatization. [7] [8] [9]

Economic theory

In economic theory, the question of whether a firm should be owned by the state or by the private sector is studied in the theory of incomplete contracts developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors. [10] In a world in which complete contracts were feasible, ownership would not matter because the same incentive structure that prevails under one ownership structure could be replicated under the other ownership structure. Hart, Shleifer, and Vishny (1997) have developed the leading application of the incomplete contract theory to the issue of state-owned enterprises. [11] These authors compare a situation in which the government is in control of a firm to a situation in which a private manager is in control. The manager can invest to come up with cost-reducing and quality-enhancing innovations. The government and the manager bargain over the implementation of the innovations. If the negotiations fail, the owner can decide about the implementation. It turns out that when cost-reducing innovations do not harm quality significantly, then private firms are to be preferred. Yet, when cost-reductions may strongly reduce quality, state-owned enterprises are superior. Hoppe and Schmitz (2010) have extended this theory in order to allow for a richer set of governance structures, including different forms of public-private partnerships. [12]

Use

Economic reasons

Natural monopolies

SOEs are common with natural monopolies, because they allow capturing economies of scale while they can simultaneously achieve a public objective. For that reason, SOEs primarily operate in the domain of infrastructure (e.g., railway companies), strategic goods and services (e.g., postal services, arms manufacturing and procurement), natural resources and energy (e.g., nuclear facilities, alternative energy delivery), politically sensitive business, broadcasting, banking, demerit goods (e.g., alcoholic beverages), and merit goods (healthcare).

Infant industries

SOEs can also help foster industries that are "considered economically desirable and that would otherwise not be developed through private investments". [13] When nascent or 'infant' industries have difficulty getting investments from the private sector (perhaps because the good that is being produced requires very risky investments, when patenting is difficult, or when spillover effects exist), the government can help these industries get on the market with positive economic effects. However, the government cannot necessarily predict which industries would qualify as such 'infant industries', and so the extent to which this is a viable argument for SOEs is debated. [14]

Political reasons

SOEs are also frequently employed in areas where the government wants to levy user fees, but finds it politically difficult to introduce new taxation. Next, SOEs can be used to improve efficiency of public service delivery or as a step towards (partial) privatization or hybridization. SOEs can also be a means to alleviate fiscal stress, as SOEs may not count towards states' budgets.

Effects

Compared to government bureaucracy

Compared to government bureaucracy, state owned enterprises might be beneficial because they reduce politicians' influence over the service. [15] Conversely, they might be detrimental because they reduce oversight and increase transaction costs (such as monitoring costs, i.e., it is more difficult and costly to govern and regulate an autonomous SOE than it is the public bureaucracy). Evidence suggests that existing SOEs are typically more efficient than government bureaucracy, but that this benefit diminishes as services get more technical and have less overt public objectives. [5]

Compared to regular enterprises

Compared to a regular enterprise, state-owned enterprises are typically expected to be less efficient due to political interference, but unlike profit-driven enterprises they are more likely to focus on government objectives. [15]

Around the world

SOEs in Europe

In Eastern Europe and Western Europe, there was a massive nationalization throughout the 20th century, especially after World War II. In the Eastern Bloc, countries adopted very similar policies and models to the USSR. Governments in Western Europe, both left and right of centre, saw state intervention as necessary to rebuild economies shattered by war. [16] Government control over natural monopolies like industry was the norm. Typical sectors included telephones, electric power, fossil fuels, iron ore, railways, airlines, media, postal services, banks, and water. Many large industrial corporations were also nationalized or created as government corporations, including, among many others: British Steel Corporation, Equinor, and Águas de Portugal. [17]

A state-run enterprise may operate differently from an ordinary limited liability corporation. For example, in Finland, state-run enterprises (liikelaitos) are governed by separate laws. Even though responsible for their own finances, they cannot be declared bankrupt; the state answers for the liabilities. Stocks of the corporation are not sold and loans have to be government-approved, as they are government liabilities.

State-owned enterprises are a major component of the economy of Belarus. [18] : 432  The Belarusian state-owned economy includes enterprises that are fully state-owned, as well as others which are joint-stock companies with partial ownership by the state. [18] : 432–433  Employment in state-owned or state-controlled enterprises is approximately 70% of total employment. [18] : 433  State-owned enterprises are thus a major factor behind Belarus's high employment rate and a source of stable employment. [18] : 433 

SOEs among OPEC countries

In most OPEC countries, the governments own the oil companies operating on their soil. A notable example is the Saudi Arabian national oil company, Saudi Aramco, which the Saudi government bought in 1988, changing its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company. The Saudi government also owns and operates Saudi Arabian Airlines, and owns 70% of SABIC as well as many other companies.[ citation needed ]

SOEs in China

China's state-owned enterprises are owned and managed by the State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). [19] China's state-owned enterprises generally own and operate public services, resource extraction or defense. [19] As of 2017, China has more SOEs than any other country, and the most SOEs among large national companies.

China's SOEs perform functions such as: contributing to central and local governments revenues through dividends and taxes, supporting urban employment, keeping key input prices low, channeling capital towards targeted industries and technologies, supporting sub-national redistribution to poorer interior and western provinces, and aiding the state's response to natural disasters, financial crises and social instability. [20]

China's SOEs are at the forefront of global seaport-building, and most new ports constructed by them are done within the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative. [21]

SOEs in Ethiopia

As of at least 2024, an Ethiopian SOE is Africa's largest and most profitable airline, as well as Ethiopia's largest earner of foreign exchange. [22] : 228 

SOEs in India

In India, government enterprises exist in the form of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

Government-linked companies in Malaysia

The Malaysian government launched a GLC Transformation Programme for its linked companies and linked investment companies ("GLICs") on 29 July 2005, aiming over a ten-year period to transform these businesses "into high-performing entities". The Putrajaya Committee on GLC High Performance ("PCG"), which oversaw this programme, was chaired by the Prime Minister, and membership included the Minister of Finance II, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Secretary General of Treasury and the heads of each of the GLICs (the Employees Provident Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (the armed forces pension fund), Lembaga Tabung Haji and Permodalan Nasional Berhad. Khazanah Nasional Berhad provided the secretariat to the PCG and managed the implementation of the programme, which was completed in 2015. [23]

SOEs in the Philippines

As of 2024, Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is the most profitable state-owned enterprise in the Philippines. [24] : 102  It is the third largest contributor to government revenues, following taxes and customs. [24] : 102 

See also

Related Research Articles

Privatization can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when a heavily regulated private company or industry becomes less regulated. Government functions and services may also be privatised ; in this case, private entities are tasked with the implementation of government programs or performance of government services that had previously been the purview of state-run agencies. Some examples include revenue collection, law enforcement, water supply, and prison management.

Corporatization is the process of transforming and restructuring state assets, government agencies, public organizations, or municipal organizations into corporations. It involves the adoption and application of business management practices and the separation of ownership from management through the creation of a joint-stock or shareholding structure for the organization. The result of corporatization is the creation of state-owned corporations where the government retains a majority ownership of the corporation's stock. Corporatization is undertaken to improve efficiency of an organization, to commercialize its operations, to introduce corporate and business management techniques to public functions, or as a precursor to partial or full privatization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State ownership</span> Ownership of industry, assets, or businesses by a public body

State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownership specifically refers to industries selling goods and services to consumers and differs from public goods and government services financed out of a government's general budget. Public ownership can take place at the national, regional, local, or municipal levels of government; or can refer to non-governmental public ownership vested in autonomous public enterprises. Public ownership is one of the three major forms of property ownership, differentiated from private, collective/cooperative, and common ownership.

The socialist market economy (SME) is the economic system and model of economic development employed in the People's Republic of China. The system is a market economy with the predominance of public ownership and state-owned enterprises. The term "socialist market economy" was introduced by Jiang Zemin during the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1992 to describe the goal of China's economic reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenaga Nasional</span> Malaysian electricity company

Tenaga Nasional Berhad, also known as Tenaga Nasional or simply Tenaga, is the Malaysian multinational electricity company and is the only electric utility company in Peninsular Malaysia and also the largest publicly listed power company in Southeast Asia with MYR 204.74 billion worth of assets. It serves over 10.16 million customers throughout Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian state of Sabah through Sabah Electricity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrei Shleifer</span> American economist

Andrei Shleifer is a Russian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1991. Shleifer was awarded the biennial John Bates Clark Medal in 1999 for his seminal works in three fields: corporate finance, the economics of financial markets, and the economics of transition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privately held company</span> Business which is not publicly traded

A privately held company is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the company's stock is offered, owned, traded or exchanged privately, also known as "over-the-counter". Related terms are unlisted organisation, unquoted company and private equity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khazanah Nasional</span> Malaysian government sovereign wealth fund

Khazanah Nasional Berhad (lit. 'National Treasure Limited'; doing business as Khazanah Nasional or simply Khazanah) is the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia. One of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, it was established to invest surplus revenues for Malaysia. Through its investments and activities, the fund seeks to deliver sustainable economic and societal benefit for the nation. This includes achieving long-term risk-adjusted returns across the portfolio, as well as undertaking investments that catalyse new growth areas, strengthen Malaysia’s economic competitiveness, and contribute to priority socioeconomic outcomes.

Robert Ward Vishny is an American economist and is the Myron S. Scholes Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is one of the most-cited financial economists in the world, with over 200,000 citations on Google Scholar as of 2024.

UEM Group Berhad(UEM Group) is an investment holding company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Iskandar Investment Berhad, or IIB, is a corporate entity providing investment capital to the development corridor of Iskandar Malaysia, in South Johor at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. It was formed on 2 November 2006 as South Johor Investment Corporation Berhad. IIB focuses on Iskandar Puteri or Flagship Zone B. A Heads of Agreement was signed to form a new company to drive the development of catalyst projects. The Iskandar Investment shareholding structure is as follows: Khazanah Nasional (60%), EPF (20%) and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Berhad (KPRJ) (20%), a company wholly owned by the Johor State Government. The definitive agreements were signed on 19 December 2006 and completed in May 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privatization in Russia</span> Post-Soviet reforms of the Russian economy in the 90s

Privatization in Russia describes the series of post-Soviet reforms that resulted in large-scale privatization of Russia's state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors. Most privatization took place in the early and mid-1990s under Boris Yeltsin, who assumed the presidency following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

State media are typically understood as media outlets that are owned, operated, or significantly influenced by the government. They are distinguished from public service media, which are designed to serve the public interest, operate independently of government control, and are financed through a combination of public funding, licensing fees, and sometimes advertising. The crucial difference lies in the level of independence from government influence and the commitment to serving a broad public interest rather than the interests of a specific political party or government agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Wahid Omar</span> Malaysian banker and investor

Abdul Wahid bin Omar is a Malaysian banker and investor who has served as Chairman of the Bursa Malaysia since May 2020 and Chairman of the National University of Malaysia (UKM), one of Malaysia top universities, since November 2018.

A state-owned enterpriseof China is a legal entity that undertakes commercial activities on behalf of an owner government.

Russian government ownership of various companies and organizations, collectively known as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), still play an important role in the national economy. The approximately 4,100 enterprises that have some degree of state ownership accounted for 39% of all employment in 2007. In 2007, SOEs controlled 64% of the banking sector, 47% of the oil and gas sector, and 37% of the utility sector.

A municipally owned corporation is a corporation owned by a municipality. They are typically "organisations with independent corporate status, managed by an executive board appointed primarily by local government officials, and with majority public ownership." Some municipally owned corporations rely on revenue from user fees, distinguishing them from agencies and special districts funded through taxation. Municipally owned corporations may also differ from local bureaucracies in funding, transaction costs, financial scrutiny, labour rights, permission to operate outside their jurisdiction, and, under some circumstances, in rights to make profits and risk of bankruptcy.

In South Africa the Department of Public Enterprises is the shareholder representative of the South African Government with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments. Further, not all state owned entities are registered as companies.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "State-Owned Enterprises Catalysts for public value creation?" (PDF). PwC. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. ↑ Shepelev, Denis Viktorovich; Shepeleva, Dina Viktorovna (2018). "LEGAL ASPECTS OF PROFIT MAKING BY STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES". Current Issues of the State and Law. 2 (5): 47–55. doi:10.20310/2587-9340-2018-2-5-47-55. ISSN   2587-9340.
  3. ↑ Profiles of Existing Government Corporations, pp. 1–16
  4. ↑ Tavares, António F.; Camões, Pedro J. (2007). "Local service delivery choices in Portugal: A political transaction costs network". Local Government Studies. 33 (4): 535–553. doi:10.1080/03003930701417544. S2CID   154709321 – via ResearchGate.
  5. 1 2 Voorn, Bart; Van Genugten, Marieke L.; Van Thiel, Sandra (2017). "The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: A systematic review". Local Government Studies. 43 (5): 820–841. doi: 10.1080/03003930.2017.1319360 . hdl: 2066/176125 .
  6. ↑ Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Know Your GLCs, published 17 June 2020, accessed 29 July 2023
  7. ↑ Grossi, Giuseppe; Reichard, Christoph (2008). "Municipal corporatization in Germany and Italy". Public Management Review. 10 (5): 597–617. doi:10.1080/14719030802264275. S2CID   153354582.
  8. ↑ Ferry, Laurence; Andrews, Rhys; Skelcher, Chris; Wegorowski, Piotr (2018). "New development: Corporatization of local authorities in England in the wake of austerity 2010–2016" (PDF). Public Money & Management. 38 (6): 477–480. doi:10.1080/09540962.2018.1486629. S2CID   158266874.
  9. ↑ Voorn, Bart; Van Thiel, Sandra; van Genugten, Marieke (2018). "Debate: Corporatization as more than a recent crisis-driven development". Public Money & Management. 38 (7): 481–482. doi:10.1080/09540962.2018.1527533. hdl: 2066/197924 . S2CID   158097385.
  10. ↑ Hart, Oliver (2017). "Incomplete Contracts and Control" (PDF). American Economic Review. 107 (7): 1731–1752. doi:10.1257/aer.107.7.1731. ISSN   0002-8282.
  11. ↑ Hart, O.; Shleifer, A.; Vishny, R. W. (1997). "The Proper Scope of Government: Theory and an Application to Prisons". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 112 (4): 1127–1161. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.318.7133 . doi:10.1162/003355300555448. ISSN   0033-5533. S2CID   16270301.
  12. ↑ Hoppe, Eva I.; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2010). "Public versus private ownership: Quantity contracts and the allocation of investment tasks". Journal of Public Economics. 94 (3–4): 258–268. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.11.009. ISSN   0047-2727.
  13. ↑ Kowalski, P.; Büge, M.; Sztajerowska, M.; Egeland, M. "State-Owned Enterprises: Trade Effects and Policy Implications" (PDF). OECD Trade Policy Papers (147).
  14. ↑ Baldwin, R. E. (1969). "The case against infant-industry tariff protection" (PDF). Journal of political economy. pp. 295–305.
  15. 1 2 Shleifer, Andrei; Vishny, Robert W. (1994). "Politicians and firms". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 109 (4): 995–1025. doi:10.2307/2118354. JSTOR   2118354.
  16. ↑ "All Men Are Created Unequal". The Economist . 4 January 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Quote: «The wars and depressions between 1914 and 1950 dragged the wealthy back to earth. Wars brought physical destruction of capital, nationalisation, taxation and inflation»
  17. ↑ Starting in the late 1970s and accelerating through the 1980s and 1990s many of these corporations were privatized, though many still remain wholly or partially owned by the respective governments.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Li, Yan; Cheng, Enfu (2020-12-01). "Market Socialism in Belarus: An Alternative to China's Socialist Market Economy". World Review of Political Economy. 11 (4). doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.11.4.0428. ISSN   2042-891X. S2CID   236786906.
  19. 1 2 "Explained, the role of China's state-owned companies". World Economic Forum. 7 May 2019.
  20. ↑ Pieke, Frank N.; Hofman, Bert, eds. (2022). CPC Futures The New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. p. 138. ISBN   978-981-18-5206-0. OCLC   1354535847.
  21. ↑ Shahab Uddin, Shanjida (2023). "Bangladesh and Belt and Road Initiative: Strategic Rationale". China and Eurasian Powers in a Multipolar World Order 2.0: Security, Diplomacy, Economy and Cyberspace. Mher Sahakyan. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 132. ISBN   978-1-003-35258-7. OCLC   1353290533.
  22. ↑ Yan, Hairong; Sautman, Barry (2024). "China, Ethiopia and the Significance of the Belt and Road Initiative". The China Quarterly . 257 (257): 222–247. doi: 10.1017/S0305741023000966 .
  23. ↑ Khazanah Nasional Berhad, GLCs succesfully [sic] complete and graduate from 10-year GLC Transformation Programme, published 7 August 2015, accessed 29 July 2023
  24. 1 2 Han, Enze (2024). The Ripple Effect: China's Complex Presence in Southeast Asia. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-769659-0.

Sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.