State Owned Enterprise Governance A Stocktaking Of Government Rationales For Enterprise Ownership

This report reviews rationales offered by national governments for including or maintaining certain corporate assets in state ownership. Drawing on a survey of 24 countries, the report provides guidance to authorities seeking to reform or review their ownership policies.

This report reviews the rationales offered by national governments for including or maintaining certain corporate assets in state ownership. Drawing from responses from 24 countries to a questionnaire based on the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (the “Guidelines”), the report aims to provide guidance to authorities seeking to reform or review their ownership policies. It does so, first, by providing provides an inventory of national practices regarding the application of the Guidelines recommendation that governments should develop and issue an ownership policy that defines the overall objectives of state ownership, the state’s role in the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and how it will implement its ownership policy. Second, the report illustrates how the state enterprise ownership policy is applied in situations where new SOEs are created, or when the state decides to terminate its enterprise ownership. The report was reviewed by the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices, which oversees implementation of the Guidelines, and is current as of October 2014.

Presents the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises as well as a comparative overview of main practices and issues related to corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in the OECD area.

The new OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises provide an internationally agreed benchmark to help governments assess and improve the way they exercise ownership functions in state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

This report documents changes in state ownership and SOE governance in both OECD and partner economies and assesses the extent to which the Guidelines have served as a “roadmap for reform” in individual countries since 2015, following the most recent update of the Guidelines. Drawing on practices in up to 31 jurisdictions, it covers organising the state enterprise ownership function; safeguarding a level playing field between SOEs and private businesses; equitable treatment of shareholders and other investors; stakeholder relations and responsible business; transparency and disclosure practices; and professionalising boards of directors.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in Emerging Europe’s economies, notably in the energy and transport sectors. Based on a new firm-level dataset, this paper reviews the SOE landscape, assesses SOE performance across countries and vis-à-vis private firms, and evaluates recent SOE governance reform experience in 11 Emerging European countries, as well as Sweden as a benchmark. Profitability and efficiency of resource allocation of SOEs lag those of private firms in most sectors, with substantial cross-country variation. Poor SOE performance raises three main risks: large and risky contingent liabilities could stretch public finances; sizeable state ownership of banks coupled with poor governance could threaten financial stability; and negative productivity spillovers could affect the economy at large. SOE governance frameworks are partly weak and should be strengthened along three lines: fleshing out a consistent ownership policy; giving teeth to financial oversight; and making SOE boards more professional.

The new OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises provide an internationally agreed benchmark to help governments assess and improve the way they exercise ownership functions in state-owned enterprises (SOEs).