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Balancing Commercial and Non-Commercial Priorities of State-Owned Enterprises

Author

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  • Hans Christiansen

    (OECD)

Abstract

The overarching question for the government owners of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is why these companies need to be owned by the state. The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises provides a “blueprint” for the corporatisation and commercialisation of such enterprises, but it may be assumed that the reason for continued state ownership is that they are expected to act differently from private companies. A relatively clear case occurs when SOEs are established with the purpose of pursuing mostly non-commercial activities. In many cases, their activities might otherwise be carried out by government institutions; the SOE incorporation has been chosen mostly on efficiency grounds.A number of other rationales for public ownership of enterprises have been offered, including: (i) monopolies in sectors where competition and market regulation is not deemed feasible or efficient; (ii) market incumbency, for instance in sectors where competition has been introduced but a state-owned operator remains responsible for public service obligations; (iii) imperfect contracts, where those public service obligations that SOEs are charged with are too complex or malleable to be laid down in service contracts; (iv) industrial policy or development strategies, where SOEs are being used to overcome obstacles to growth or correct market imperfections...

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Christiansen, 2013. "Balancing Commercial and Non-Commercial Priorities of State-Owned Enterprises," OECD Corporate Governance Working Papers 6, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:dafaae:6-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5k4dkhztkp9r-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Piotr Matuszak & Katarzyna Szarzec, 2019. "The Scale and Financial Performance of State-Owned Enterprises in the CEE Region," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 69(4), pages 549-570, December.
    2. M. V. Klinova, 2017. "Comparative assessment of state involvement in the economy in OECD studies," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 458-465, July.
    3. Luc BERNIER & Patrice DUTIL & Taïeb HAFSI, 2018. "Policy Adrift: Canadian Crown Corporations In The 21st Century," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(3), pages 459-474, September.
    4. World Bank, 2015. "Governance Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises," World Bank Publications - Reports 22749, The World Bank Group.
    5. Zivanai Mazhambe, 2020. "Impact Assessment of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) on Commercial Public Sector Entities in Africa," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 7(10), pages 210-212, October.
    6. Szarzec, Katarzyna & Dombi, Ákos & Matuszak, Piotr, 2021. "State-owned enterprises and economic growth: Evidence from the post-Lehman period," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Wu, Aihua, 2017. "The signal effect of Government R&D Subsidies in China: Does ownership matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 339-345.
    8. Tan, Bing Qing & Kang, Kai & Zhong, Ray Y., 2023. "Electric vehicle charging infrastructure investment strategy analysis: State-owned versus private parking lots," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 54-71.
    9. Senderski, Marcin, 2015. "Inhibited privatization: a hurdle race over vested interests," MPRA Paper 65482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Steffen, Bjarne & Karplus, Valerie & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2022. "State ownership and technology adoption: The case of electric utilities and renewable energy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    11. Katarzyna Szarzec & Wanda Nowara & Mirosława Żurek, 2017. "Forma własności a wyniki ekonomiczne największych przedsiębiorstw krajów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 89-114.
    12. Egli, Florian & Schärer, David & Steffen, Bjarne, 2022. "Determinants of fossil fuel divestment in European pension funds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Kuzman Tanja & Bellos Sotirios K. & Đulić Katarina, 2018. "Determinants of Innovation-based Sustainability in Transition and Developing Economies," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 56(3), pages 413-438, September.
    14. Marcin Senderski, 2015. "Inhibited privatization: a hurdle race over vested interests," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 4(1), pages 46-66, June.
    15. Susanna Alexius & Giuseppe Grossi, 2018. "Decoupling in the age of market-embedded morality: responsible gambling in a hybrid organization," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(2), pages 285-313, June.
    16. Katarzyna Szarzec, 2023. "Przedsiębiorstwa państwowe we współczesnej gospodarce – cele i uwarunkowania efektywności działania," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 3, pages 295-314.
    17. Piotr Matuszak, 2023. "State-Owned Enterprises and Endogenous Growth," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 15(1), pages 65-89, March.
    18. King Yoong Lim & Shuonan Zhang, 2023. "Optimal fiscal management in an economy with resource revenue‐financed government‐linked companies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 2202-2225, April.
    19. Spartak Keremidchiev & Miroslav Nedelchev, 2020. "Foreign models and policies for state-owned enterprises," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 3-14,15-25.
    20. Matuszak, Piotr & Kabaciński, Bartosz, 2021. "Non-commercial goals and financial performance of state-owned enterprises – some evidence from the electricity sector in the EU countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 1068-1087.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; state-owned enterprises;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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