Search

We examine the effect of a place-based policy in China, the Northeastern Revitalization Program. In 2003 the State Council of the People's Republic of China initiated the program in northeastern China by removing an agricultural tax, enhancing the urban social security system, facilitating foreign investment, and restructuring state-owned enterprises in the region. Using the synthetic control method, we find that the program had no significant effect on GDP per capita in all three regions. Liaoning had slightly worse GDP per capita post-treatment, as did Heilongjiang (albeit to a lesser extent). While the multiple synthetic control analysis shows that economic outcomes were worse post-treatment, the impact of this program was heterogeneous across the three regions. We argue the lackluster performance likely comes from the continuing dominance of inefficient state-owned enterprises in the provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effects of US sanctions on Chinese public and private overseas foreign direct investment (FDI). Using data for up to 112 developing countries from 2005 to 2015, we find that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to invest in countries threatened or targeted with US sanctions relative to Chinese privately owned enterprises (POEs) because they have the Chinese government's backing and are larger in number and size, motivating them to invest in higher-risk states. The Chinese government also reaps political benefits by Chinese SOEs investing abroad, enhancing China's economic strength and decreasing its rivals' influence. We obtain similar results for Chinese SOEs and POEs regardless of the investment sector and conduct additional robustness checks that further reinforce the main findings. Our study provides insights into how China's overseas FDI increases its economic and political reach across the globe at the possible expense of the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are perennially entrenched institutions so hard to reform? This article proposes a theory of institutional rebound based on China's reforms to break the three "iron-institutions" in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). I argue that reforms triggered the rise of informal institutions, which impeded further reforms and made old rules rebound. When SOE cadres had denser political connections, they actively manipulated the rules to maintain privileges. When managers and workers had fewer political resources, they used performative resistance to delay reforms and penalize reform advocates. The pressure to complete reforms drove cadres to first target the powerless, replacing them with cronies, before having to move to the more powerful. The article combines in-depth interviews, secondary sources, and topical modeling of newspaper and journal articles across three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of patronage in Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) by analyzing board appointments between 2004 and 2019 under two different presidential administrations—those of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo. The study is based on a content analysis of board members and their political affiliations in fifteen of the largest Indonesian SOEs and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a former minister, high-ranking officials in the government, political party members, CEOs, and SOE board members. The study identifies how key patrons influence board appointments and how the sitting president, a pivotal patron in the post-authoritarian context, strategically uses patronage for power consolidation and political stability. Given the financial significance and power of SOEs, placing loyalists on boards serves the interests of ruling political parties and elites. This also enables elites to produce even more patronage, which is beneficial for their personal political machinery. This intricate interplay sustains the presence of patronage in Indonesia's democratic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the dynamics of the concept of state-owned enterprises in Vietnam, which manifests the changes in ideological orientation relating to the role of the state sector and of the economic management system. Indeed, the economic reform (Doi moi policy) and the integration into the global economy have fostered the participation of the private sector in the economy through the process of state-owned enterprise equitization. The analysis of the concept of state-owned enterprises over time however argues that the change, which has been subject to both internal and external impulses over time, is not fundamental as the key element of socialist ideology, the public ownership of the means of production remains the guiding principle of Vietnam's economic development. In other words, the Vietnamese Government continues to its control over the national economy through the operation of state-owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is an interdisciplinary research that sought to explore knowledge loss risks interdependently in relation to the knowledge management (KM) and human resource management (HRM) disciplines in South African state-owned companies (SOCs). This study highlighted the significant role of knowledge-based HRM systems, which will naturally enhance the management capacity of tacit knowledge to mitigate risks and assist SOCs to deliver on a developmental mandate, as well as ensure their survival and the economic growth of developing nations. The paper aims to explore the connection between KM and HRM practices for the effective management of enterprise tacit knowledge loss risks using the SOCs of South Africa as a case. This study is a mixed methods research project, using the exploratory sequential design as a research strategy. Data were collected qualitatively through interviews with 20 purposively nominated human resource managers, and survey data was collected randomly from 25% (145 of the 585 responses) of the workers employed in SOCs. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using Atlas.ti and Statistical data were analysed using SAS and exploratory factor analysis. The relationship between HRM and KM practices in lessening the risks inherent in tacit knowledge loss, mainly from voluntary turnover, is underdeveloped in many South African SOCs. The study established that the role of HRM in supporting KM is limited and underdeveloped in many SOCs, largely because they are lagging in key structures and knowledge-centric cultures, behaviours and HRM practices to drive the effective management of company knowledge. This study assists HRM executives and KM practitioners to develop knowledge-driven HRM practices in order to mitigate risks from the loss of tacit knowledge, whilst ensuring sustained performance in public enterprises. The study and proposed strategies seek to influence the discourse, policies, practices and theories on KM and HRM praxis in companies to mitigate the risks associated with the loss of tacit knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: In today's unpredictable, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and interconnected environment, businesses face various challenges and uncertainties that are anticipated will intensify and become more frequent in the future. In this harsh environment, maintaining sustainable competitiveness is difficult. Information Technology Capabilities (ITCs) are an important element that determines a company's success or failure as well as its Resilience (ER). Given the complexity and uncertainty of today's business world, businesses with good information collection, analysis, and use can anticipate changes and decrease delays. Enterprises should collect high-quality information to meet modern business settings. Business resilience depends on the ability to gather and process resources to handle environmental uncertainty. Enterprises should use information, knowledge, experiences, and other resources to build resilience. The leadership of top management is essential for ensuring the organisation's sustainability and attaining its objectives. This study applies the concept of dynamic capability to assess the impact of ITCs on Indonesian SOEs and their subsidiaries. Additionally, this study investigates leadership capabilities (LCs) as a mediator between ITCs and ER. Due to their vital role in the Indonesian economy and the paucity of research on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) resilience and dynamic capabilities, particularly in the emerging market, this research focuses on Indonesian SOEs and their subsidiaries. Methodology: The study examined 322 valid data from online surveys using questionnaires to Indonesia SOEs and their subsidiaries' board of directors and senior management. The data is analysed using SmartPLS 3. Findings: The research demonstrates that ITCs enhance ER. LCs improved the enterprise's resiliency. The relationship between ITCs and ER is mediated through LCs. Contributions: The findings may expand the scope of dynamic capability theory to include resilience. The findings extend the methodology by adopting a quantitative and online survey of SOEs in emerging countries and demonstrate to SOE management and regulators that ER can be fostered by strengthening dynamic capabilities and risk management practices. The findings recommend that policymakers develop a road map, scenario, and strategies to ensure the long-term viability of SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to analyze the forms that organizational hybridity assumes in subnational state-owned enterprises in Argentina --specifically, in those at the provincial level--; as well as the characteristics of the relations with the owner state and the national state, as a basis for the study of their interjurisdictional governance. The paper is based on a comparative analysis of four cases of provincial state-owned enterprise, using primary and secondary sources. Among other aspects, it is highlighted that the orientation of the companies analyzed includes a relevant presence of their public mission, although coexisting with varying degrees of commercial objectives. Likewise, the link with the owner state is mostly hierarchical, without ignoring different levels of managerial autonomy. Finally, the predominant relations with the national state are generally characterized by cooperation, usually in terms of the implementation of public policies, which reinforces the centrality of the companies' public mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results reported in this article, on local implementation of mixed-ownership reforms and the corporatization of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOE) in the period 2008–2017, confirm that political and economic factors determine the possibility, objective, and pace of SOE corporate restructuring. With a starting point in a comprehensive review of the literature on Chinese SOE reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, hypotheses on the effects of 1) market supporting institutions, 2) fiscal and financial stability constraints, and 3) social stability constraints on state sector ownership reforms were identified. Industrial economy statistics found in province-level statistical yearbooks were used to test the continuing relevance of these hypotheses and to provide the basis for an updated analysis of the ownership structure of local state-owned enterprises in a new phase of SOE reforms. Most of the firm-level findings reported here are consistent with those of previous studies. However, in contrast to earlier stages of SOE reforms, we find that fiscal pressure on local governments no longer functions as a driver of local-state-sector ownership restructuring. The analysis implies that the Chinese government's current SOE reform strategy, which this time focus on mixed ownership, is mainly relevant for high-performing SOEs located in rich provinces with well-developed market-supporting institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are now working with humanitarian organizations to develop infrastructure abroad. This emerging phenomenon is puzzling: when, where, and why do Chinese SOEs, best known for constructing massive overseas infrastructure projects for commercial and political gain, execute smaller, lower-profile humanitarian projects? Similarly, why would humanitarian organizations––often with minimal experience in infrastructure contracting––select partners criticized for lack of emphasis on the international standards and best practices that they seek to promote? We address these questions through qualitative case studies of Chinese SOE-humanitarian organization collaboration in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and the Republic of Congo. These cases suggest that such partnerships are more likely when a humanitarian organization has previous experience working in China or with Chinese actors, when Chinese SOEs aim to enter new markets, or when these firms operate in dangerous or politically unstable environments. This study contributes to scholarship on China's evolving role in international development by providing the first empirical analysis of Chinese SOE-humanitarian organization partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates made exaggerated claims that privatization would reduce governments' fiscal problems while ensuring more efficient, productive and competitive economies by promoting private entrepreneurship, innovation and investments. Led by Margaret Thatcher and the Washington-based international financial institutions from the 1980s, privatization proponents pushed for more private property. Real problems of state-owned enterprises were often misrepresented and exaggerated to make the case for privatization. To minimize public resistance and ensure public acceptability, some benefits accrued to many in the early stages of privatization. However, in the longer term, privatization enriched a few while typically failing to deliver its promised benefits. Privatization was expected by many to promote competition and eliminate corruption. In practice, the converse has often been true as beneficiaries have engaged in new types of corruption to maximize their own gains instead. As the failures and abuses of privatization became apparent, public–private partnerships have been promoted, ostensibly to mobilize private finance for the public purpose. In all too many cases, these partnerships have instead socialized costs and losses while enhancing private financial gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to identify whether there is a contemporary consensus on the role of SOEs in different countries on selected issues, through the view of experts around the globe. We conducted a survey to formulate prospective forecasts of the evolution of the role of SOE and to summarize the state of knowledge. Here we present a selection of the results obtained, with an emphasis on identifying consensus on SOE governance and conflicting goals. Because of that, the qualitative approach adopted in this paper is a natural complement to the more quantitative ones. We find that guaranteeing autonomy from state authorities and transparency in SOEs management are the most important challenges that public firms currently face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the internationalization of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the 21st century and its underlying firm-level and country-level drivers. Using a global database of more than 110,000 M&A (10% having a state-owned acquirer), we empirically investigate differences between private enterprises, traditional SOEs and contemporary reformed SOEs. We show that the intensity of government control is associated with diverging targeting strategies and internationalization patterns. Compared to traditional SOEs, reformed SOEs are more outward-oriented, tend to purchase better performing targets, concentrate their investments towards less risky countries that are geographically and culturally closer, with better institutional quality and a more central position in the trade network. Our findings are consistent with the view that reformed SOEs are increasingly adopting market-oriented strategies thus diverging from traditional SOEs (and converging towards the private model) in their objective functions. • Different internationalization patterns between traditional and reformed SOEs. • Reformed SOEs more likely to internationalize and acquire better performing targets. • Reformed SOEs tend to adopt market-oriented strategies in key trade network markets. • Traditional SOEs pursue political goals seeking strategic resources in riskier markets. • Cultural and geographical proximity matter more for reformed than for traditional SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a number of years now, the South African Airways limped from one turnaround strategy to another, with little or no success. While there is a body of knowledge on turnaround strategies, little is known about the implementation of turnaround strategies in developing economies such as South Africa and of state-owned enterprises at that. The aim of this article was to explore some constraints experienced by SAA in the implementation of its Long-Term Turnaround Strategy. Purposive sampling was used to select participants to be interviewed for this study. Data were collected primarily through semi-structured interviews from 37 participants. Using thematic analysis, the following six themes emerged from the data analysis: shareholder's slow decision making, undercapitalisation of the airline, unstable political leadership, unhealthy board dynamics, leadership instability, and lack of management skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transnet moves around 80% of South Africa's rail-friendly freight tonnekilometres, which drops to less than 40% if the rail-only coal and iron ore export lines are excluded. Objectives: Calculating the costs, negative externalities, and job losses caused by Transnet's recent and historical operational issues and using the results to inform future reform possibilities. Method: Aspects contributing to Transnet's failures are indicated through an assessment of rail freight's decreasing market share and infrastructure investment, port ownership and inefficiency concerns, Transnet's deteriorating financial performance, loss of critical skills, and instances of state capture. Resultant costs and their impact on employment are calculated across various freight flow segments, whereafter reform models are suggested through international benchmarking and extracting lessons from relevant global reforms. Results: The cost of Transnet's failures are estimated as 7.43% of gross domestic product. A healthy relationship between the government and the private sector is a frequent occurrence in successful reforms seen globally. Locally, recent government reforms acknowledge a meaningful role for the private sector, which is in turn offering pragmatic and achievable solutions. Conclusion: Improved private sector participation can contribute to Transnet's recovery. South Africa depends on this collaboration and the development of port and rail master plans to guide the infrastructure development required to meet its overall transportation needs. Contribution: Actionable implications for policy implementation, the economic regulation and horizontal separation of the freight railway, shifting freight from road to rail, the corporatisation of the port authority, and increasing port efficiency and capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies whether foreign subsidiaries (FSs) are able to cooperate for innovation with local partners during good and harsh economic times. It also enquires as to whether these companies and different types of domestic firms displayed similar cooperative behaviour during 2004–16. The period is divided into three sub-periods (boom, downturn, and recovery), and three logit models with panel data of a representative sample of Spanish firms are proposed. The ability of FSs to cooperate for innovation is maintained throughout the business cycle. These firms are better at cooperating than are unaffiliated firms but not significantly better than domestic business groups. State-owned enterprises strongly outperform both FSs and domestic private firms during the boom, the downturn, and the recovery. Unaffiliated domestic firms manage to cooperate during the boom and the recovery but not during the downturn. Predictors of cooperative innovation vary throughout the business cycle. The results contain policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's rapid post-war economic growth prompted Chinese leaders to look to their neighbour as they initiated market reforms from the late 1970s. How did movements of people and ideas between China and Japan occur, and what were their effects on Chinese enterprise policies? From the 1970s through the 1990s, Chinese officials, scholars, and enterprise representatives invited Japanese advisors to China, conducted myriad exchanges through associations like the Sino-Japanese Economic Knowledge Exchange and the Japan-China Economic Association, and actively studied Japan's economy and companies. Chinese policy-makers gained insights from Japan about market-responsive forms of corporate structure, organisational solutions to state ownership dilemmas, evidence that consolidation could aid economic performance and technological upgrading, and strategic commitment to building large state-owned enterprise groups. However, this episode of intense engagement between China and Japan generated neither unilateral 'diffusion' nor unitary influence. Instead, it reveals how China has developed its own path of economic development through what I term 'policy collaging': seeking, selecting, and creatively combining policy ideas and practices from international sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to explore whether internationalization by state-owned enterprises is a curse or blessing in the context of aspirant industrial economies, such as China. What do state-owned enterprises' global production aspirations, such as outward foreign direct investment, bring into their home country? To answer this question, this study proposes a unique, co-evolutionary perspective of the state-driven industrialized economy by leveraging insights from economic discoveries such as Adam Smith's wealth of nations, David Ricardo's comparative advantage, and Michael Porter's competitive advantage. This view suggests that an outward foreign investment strategy may likely provide state-owned enterprises with access to resources and advanced production technologies, enhance innovation capabilities, gain more competitive advantage, and achieve superior performance, thus leading to spillover effects on their home country's wealth, comparative advantage, and competitiveness. This study discusses China's grand policies, economic performance, and successful cross-border industrial acquisitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different types of corporate ownership may affect the environment among firms and could influence the decisions of new entities in the region. This study determines the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in hindering new foreign manufacturing firms in the Yangtze River delta (YRD). The negative binomial regression is used for city-sector level data and the following points summarize the results: Firstly, the unique privileges that SOEs enjoy alongside governmental support create difficulties for foreign firms trying to establish themselves near existing SOEs. Secondly, although core cities are more attractive to foreign firms than peripheral cities, the role of core-periphery reveals that, in spite of all the regional advantages core cities could offer, whenever the share of SOEs is higher, the core-periphery system will have an adverse impact on new foreign firms. In other words, government preference for SOEs can suppress the attraction of foreign startups. However, after 2008, the governmental authorities finally succeeded in implementing their promising policy of fair treatment and competition in only the core cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of prior literature on corporate governance in China has asserted that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are inefficiently run and badly governed—either worse than privately-owned enterprises (POEs) or just as bad. There is, however, no solid empirical evidence that underpins either claim. Using a unique, hand-coded dataset on corporate charter provisions with a random sample of nearly 300 publicly listed Chinese firms, this paper demonstrates that political hierarchy, state shareholding level, and political compliance are key factors in the governance and performance of Chinese SOEs. The corporate governance of SOEs that are firmly controlled by the Chinese central government favours minority shareholders, whereas that of SOEs firmly controlled by provincial governments appears to be less protective of them. Overall, SOEs, particularly those controlled by the central government, do not perform any worse than POEs, as measured by Tobin's Q. Nonetheless, more politically compliant firms do perform worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The present paper compares the innovative performance of State-owned (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs). • The number of patent applications is used as a proxy of innovation outcome, while patent forward citations are used as a proxy of innovation value. • The analysis focuses on high- and medium high-tech manufacturing industries and knowledge intensive services. • The analysis involves more than 2000 SOEs and uses matching techniques to select a suitable control group of POEs. • Results suggest that cross-industry heterogeneity exists. Overall, SOEs innovative performance is comparable or even superior to that of POEs. The aim of the present paper is to compare the innovation output of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Privately-Owned Enterprises (POEs), as measured by patent activity, taking a cross-industry perspective. Estimation results focusing on EU countries over the period 2011–2018 reveals that in some medium high-tech manufacturing industries (i.e., manufacturing of chemical products and motor-vehicles) and in the gas and electricity industries the innovative performance of SOEs is on average superior to those of POEs. No statistically significant difference can be detected in high-tech manufacturing, while in knowledge intensive services the evidence is mixed: SOEs innovation output is inferior to POEs' in professional, scientific, and technical activities; yet SOEs outperform POEs in transport services. Overall, these results suggest that, in specific economic sectors, SOEs may act as an important vehicle for technological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The shareholding state in Italy emerges following the partial privatizations of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the 1990s. • The literature finds that states retaining minority stakes in their former SOEs are unlikely to influence corporate strategies. • This paper suggests that state minority stakes may serve state interests. • The decision to retain majority or minority stakes depends on sectoral specificities. • It also depends on the influence that private shareholders may exercise on the board. The shareholding state in Italy emerges following the partial privatizations of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the 1990s. As today, it is still debated whether the Italian state is using its controlling stakes in former SOEs to pursue policy objectives, or if it is acting passively as other financial shareholders. The limited contributions in this field of study find that states retaining a minority stake are unlikely to influence corporate strategies, while the opposite occurs when a majority stake is held. This paper suggests that minority stakes may also serve state interests even if the company's statute does not envisage the state to play an active role. The issue is explored through a case study of the partial privatizations of CDP, in which the state retains a majority stake, and Eni, in which the state retains a minority (albeit predominant) stake, and that operate respectively in the banking and energy sectors. Their different level of financialization unveils the diversified strategies adopted by the Italian state to preserve national interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergent literature on 'new state capitalism' has offered little in terms of class analysis so far. This stands in contrast with prior twentieth-century writings which had sought to retool Marxist class theory to highlight the ambivalent position of the 'state class' in settings where the state owned large concentrations of productive capital. This article sets out a novel conceptual framework for analyzing the class situation of officials and executives embedded in government and state-owned enterprises. Overseers and managers of state-owned capital should be understood as Janus-faced actors, participating simultaneously in political and economic fields, articulating political hierarchy with power over capital. Furthermore, fractions inside the state can be identified in so far as the authority to operate, and to allocate, capital is distributed unevenly within the state's ruling stratum. As an illustration, an examination of the class ramifications of central-level SOEs in China is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After two decades of uncertainties and legislative instability, following the anti-communist Revolution of December 1989, the reform of Romanian state-owned enterprises' management to a system of corporate governance was imperative. The Government Emergency Ordinance no. 109/2011, subsequently amended by the Law no. 111/2016, has modernized their management and administration system, ensuring greater transparency and increased control over the operations of public enterprises. At the base of these entities' relationship with their administrative and executive management structures there are mandate contracts, which impose specific obligations on the agents, as well as a system of accountability meant to ensure that the state is permanently informed on the operations of the enterprise, that the acts concluded on its behalf are correct and legal and that, should the public authority loose trust in the management, it could immediately hold them accountable, in order to recover the losses and put the activity of the enterprise on the right and lawful path again. In our study, we shall analyse the content and the juridical nature of this mandate relationship, with its national specificity, given by the incidental regulations from Romanian legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several state-owned companies (SOEs) have successfully implemented process innovation. This paper examines the success factors that influence the successful implementation of process innovation in Indonesian state-owned companies. The present study used the three stages of an online questionnaire in the Delphi method to obtain consensus from experts. The consensus was measured based on the mean and standard deviation of the assessment answers provided by our respondents. Based on the development of process innovation implementation frameworks shown in previous studies, we obtained 28 factors that influence the successful implementation of process innovation. Our panelists believed that human resources and organizational factors, such as leadership, problem understanding, strategy, and culture, affected the success of process innovation in SOEs, even more than the research and development budget, support, and commitment factor of a given company. Meanwhile, cost efficiency was the main factor driving a company's motivation to implement process innovation. The success factors in implementing process innovation are an essential consideration for the management of other SOEs eager to improve their company's innovation performance, especially process innovation. Success factors were carried out comprehensively for all implementation indicators of process innovation, including inputs, process (idea generation, idea selection, and idea implementation), outputs and outcomes, diffusion, culture, strategies, and push and pull factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1948, the Chilean commercial aviation sector was reformed. The Civil Aeronautics Board (JAC) was created, and the Línea Aérea Nacional (LAN), which held a monopoly on cabotage rights, permitted the entry of several private carriers into the industry. In 1953 LAN's monopoly was eliminated opening a competition among airlines. Based on archival research at the JAC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and using congressional and press records, this article analyzes the emergence of private airlines and evaluates how the end of the cabotage monopoly impacted the internal aviation market and modified both LAN and private carriers' strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Adds to the existing knowledge regarding sovereign funds' and state-owned enterprises' investments in venture capital • Contributes to broader debates on the nature and possibilities of 'state capitalism' • Contributes to the understanding of Singapore's contemporary economic system This article provides an Institutional Political Economy analysis of Singapore's approach to state ownership. It argues that, since this country's independence in the 1960s, its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have both been run in a manner conducive to commercial viability and highly aligned with governmental economic priorities. This 'commercially viable strategic alignment', largely absent in SOEs worldwide, has favored cautious privatization and thus the maintenance of a strong SOE sector in Singapore. While recent political backlash from investing abroad has led the government to apparently distance itself from SOEs and Temasek – the SOE-holding-company-turned-investment-fund – their role in developing venture capital and entrepreneurship – both governmental priorities – suggests that a 'strategic alignment' remains. Drawing from their substantial financial resources, these entities complement other government efforts in terms of funding, being important players in the Singaporean venture capital markets and have even directly and indirectly invested in Singapore's most successful high-growth companies. In addition, due to their presence in global networks and the complimentary assets they possess, such as access to customers and intellectual property, they provide investees with resources that facilitate their growth and increase their likelihood of succeeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To implement the goals of the dynamic development of the Uzbekistan's domestic economy declared by the country's leadership in the context of significant foreign policy and internal economic contradictions, it is necessary that both the goals and objectives of the socioeconomic policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan correspond to the current relations of appropriation and alienation of property both within the country and in relation to other economic systems. At the same time, it is necessary to proceed from the understanding of property relations as, first of all, permanently changing social relations. The transformation of property relations occurs not only and not so much under the influence of external factors, but also primarily as a result of the implementation of its immanent internal logic, emanating from the historical dynamics of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the impact of transformational leadership style on employee turnover intentions in state-owned enterprises in Ghana. The study participants were 300 full-time employees in ten departments. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that transformational leadership inversely relate to employee turnover intention. All the commitment constructs partially mediate transformational leadership style and employee turnover intentions. However, organizational commitment significantly relates to transformational leadership and employee turnover intentions. Transformational leadership style is the most significant predictor of employee turnover intentions in state-owned enterprises. The study concludes that building confidence and trust among employees would reduce turnover intentions in public sector organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Have China's mixed-ownership reforms helped to boost enterprise innovations? How? • We study the topic from the theoretical perspective of organizational controls. • State shareholding is found to be conducive to enterprise innovations. • This conducive effect depends on the capability of organizational controls. Mixed-ownership reforms have been the mainstay of reforming China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in recent years. In relation to the broader context of the continuous slowdown in economic growth under the New Normal, the reshaping of the innovative capacity of SOEs has been widely considered to be of systemic importance. Yet, in the relevant literature, the effects of mixed-ownership reforms on innovations have remained unclear. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by means of studying such effects for China's listed companies in the period 2007–2018, from the theoretical perspective of organizational controls in innovative firms. Our study finds that SOEs tend to be more innovative than non-SOEs, and increases in state shareholding do raise the innovative capacity of mixed-ownership enterprises. Further analyses reveal that, for mixed-ownership enterprises, the lower the level of state shareholding the more reliance of innovations on the capability of organizational controls in corporate governance. These findings offer useful policy lessons for China. Additionally, we discuss the contribution of our study to the broader literature at a conceptual level, with an emphasis on the novelty of highlighting the importance of organizational controls in the reform of SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses political state capture in the context of party patronage. Evidence of this is delivered from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the rotations of members of their management and supervisory boards. In this case, it is deemed that an interest group, which consists of politicians and representatives in the government administration, decides about the appointment and dismissal of board members through the corporate governance of SOEs and ownership policy of the state. We analyzed the scale and intensity of rotations in Poland of about twelve thousand joint-stock companies in the years 2001–2017 according to their ownership structure. We show that changes of managers and supervisory board members in state-owned enterprises are higher than in private companies and are related to political elections. We estimated that on average three months after a new government is formed, a peak of changes in the composition of boards is observed, though they are earlier in the case of a supervisory board. We conclude that this can be regarded as an example of state capture by politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the active repositioning of the role of South Africa's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been a key thrust of governments response to slow economic growth, not enough attention has been given to exploring the challenges of building the capability of public services. More specifically, there has been insufficient scholarly focus that critically unpacks the nature and extent of skills development and human resource challenges facing management in SOEs. In order to fill this gap, this paper reports on the findings of a study undertaken at Transnet Capital Projects (TCP), a former project execution wing of Transnet SOE. Data collected from 191 respondents, in a survey of TCP project management teams, revealed that whilst the technical service providers contracted to deliver on mega-projects possessed the requisite skills, experience, and expertise, Transnet project's personnel had limited experience and exposure to execute high value mega-projects. Moreover, the study highlighted low levels of management retention, with the high turnover rates alluding to systemic internal challenges. These findings, nearly ten years since the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) intent on professionalising the public service, is worrisome and points to a need for an urgent intervention if the vision of building a developmental state is to be realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa face a serious challenge of knowledge loss caused largely by resignations, the ageing workforce and a lack of knowledge management (KM) practices. Objective: This article explores KM practices in the South African SOEs to mitigate the risks inherent in tacit knowledge loss. Methods: The study adopted a mixed methods research strategy using an exploratory sequential design to identify KM practices and their effectiveness in addressing the issue of tacit knowledge loss. The qualitative data was collected through the interviews and document analysis of 2018 annual reports in nine SOEs across five market sectors. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 585 respondents, with a 25% response rate (145) for quantitative data in three SOEs. Results: The results revealed that the majority of the SOEs lacked KM practices in their structures. The lack of KM practices implies that the SOEs are lagging behind in knowledge protective capacities to mitigate the risks inherent in the organisational tacit knowledge loss. With many South African SOEs, facing all these sorts of knowledge loss risks and a lack of KM practices to mitigate them, achieving the objectives of a developmental state remains a farfetched idea. Conclusion: The absence of KM practices negatively affected knowledge transfer and retention in most of the SOEs. A lack of KM practices will negatively affect their performance and their sustainability to deliver on their developmental mandate. Investment in KM practices will assist SOEs to mitigate the risks associated with loss of organisational tacit knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the relationship between foreign aid and institutions has found that the effects of aid vary across different donor characteristics and delivery mechanisms. This article focuses on China's resource-related development projects, which have been considered controversial due to the relative lack of conditionality. By distinguishing between vertical and horizontal dimensions of political accountability, the study finds that China's resource-related projects are particularly detrimental to the accountability of recipient countries' horizontal (legislative and judicial) institutions. These projects are often delivered to resource-rich countries, in the form of packaging access to resources and infrastructure construction, to improve China's own energy access. Local officials may be tempted to weaken horizontal institutions so that the projects can be implemented quickly. Nevertheless, these projects have little effect on vertical accountability, as China has less intention and capacity to fundamentally restrain electoral competition in recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance evaluation method based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) is one of the important tools to measure the competitiveness and productivity of enterprises. However, the input and output of enterprises may contain negative data and the essence of DEA is an iterative optimization model, resulting in a low applicability of the DEA-based performance evaluation method in the real word, especially for the dilemma of evaluating enterprise performance within a limited time for new enterprises. Therefore, this study firstly develops a DEA model that can handle negative data for enterprise performance evaluation, and then further establishes a new method base on the extended belief rule-base (EBRB) model for enterprise performance online evaluation. A case study about 35 Chinese state-owned enterprises are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed enterprise performance online evaluation method. Experimental results showed that the proposed method has capable of evaluating enterprise performance with accurate efficiency values better than some existing performance evaluation methods, and its computation time is significantly less than the DEA-based performance evaluation method, which guarantee that the proposed enterprise performance online evaluation method can serve as a reference for the promotion of enterprise productivity and sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study underscores the considerable fiscal cost involved in supporting SOEs during economic shocks. • The study introduces an innovative new measure for fiscal injections to State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), combining operational subsidies, equity injections from the government, and changes in loans from the government and other SOEs and state-owned banks. • This study is the first to use a quasi-experimental research design in analyzing SOEs as countercyclical tools, using the negative oil price shock of 2014 to study SOEs in countries that experienced a negative shock and comparable SOEs in non-treated countries. This paper examines the effects of a negative macroeconomic shock on the financial performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in infrastructure. The main aim of the paper is to explore whether SOEs serve as countercyclical instruments or whether they end up generating fiscal costs during a downturn, perhaps amplifying negative shocks. The paper introduces a new measure of fiscal injections that includes subsidies, equity recapitalizations, and loans from the government, other SOEs, or state-owned financial institutions. The empirical setup uses a quasi-experimental setting that exploits the differential effects of a drastic fall in oil prices (in 2014–15) for SOEs in countries that experience a negative aggregate demand drop as a consequence of this shock versus similar firms in countries that do not suffer a downturn from the shock. The results—based on a balanced sample using coarsened exact matching and a differences-in-differences estimation—show that SOEs in treatment countries received increases in fiscal injections as a percent of average assets of 3.5 percent the year after the shock, equivalent to a significant recapitalization. These fiscal injections take the form of equity injections and loans from the government and state-owned financial enterprises. The results also show that capital expenditure as a percent of average assets in fully owned infrastructure SOEs decreased by 3.5 percentage points the year after the negative shock, equivalent to a 40 percent decline relative to its average level. In sum, this paper presents evidence that shows that SOEs do not serve as countercyclical tools and, in fact, may amplify negative shocks by requiring fiscal injections for SOEs while also lowering their capital expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent has governance of China's state-owned economy changed under Xi Jinping? Against the background of momentous shifts in the political arena since 2012, some observe a decisive departure in Xi's approach to managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs): towards tight centralized control by the Chinese Communist Party and away from gradual marketization. Analysing the main aims and methods of SOE governance over the last two decades, we find that SOE policy under Xi exhibits a deepening of pre-existing trends rather than a departure. First, the essential vision of SOE functions articulated under Xi is strikingly consistent with that of his predecessors. Second, his administration's approach to governing SOEs is not novel; it relies on established mechanisms of bureaucratic design, the cadre management system, Party organizations and campaigns. While Xi has amplified Party-centred tools of command and control, this appears to be an incremental rather than a radical shift in approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A salient characteristic of China's public–pgrivate partnerships (PPPs) is the deep involvement of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly those administered by the central/national government (CSOEs). In this research social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine the role of different actors in transport and environmental protection PPPs in China in the period 2012–17. The results largely confirm the resource-based view and resource-dependency theory, showing that while CSOEs are dominant in both sectors, their dominance and control is greatest in transport sector projects that are more dependent on their accumulated experience, expertise, human capital assets and managemgent skills, that their dominance has increased over time, and that it is aligned with the provincial distribution of Chinese CSOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a debate on how the state-driven anticorruption movement during the Xi Jinping administration has influenced state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Research has examined the relationship between corruption and economic development at the country level in Asia and has found paradoxically that economic growth and high corruption levels can coexist. However, the "Asian paradox" that appears at the country level may be a transitional phenomenon of the short term. Not many researchers have empirically compared individual firm-level performance before and after a strong anticorruption drive, drawing on relevant comparison groups. This study tests whether Xi's 2012 anticorruption campaign improved SOEs' performance. With a difference-indifferences method, it explores whether the anticorruption campaign had different effects on the financial performance of SOEs and non-SOEs (private companies). We find that the anticorruption initiative improved SOEs' financial performance and benefited SOEs more than non-SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years, Russia's government has been expanding its presence in domestic state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and instituting numerous regulatory revisions. However, research is inconclusive over the government's underlying economic intentions, and intervention outcomes, vis-à-vis SOEs. Likewise, it remains imprecise in relation to various characteristics of government–SOE interaction. To mitigate these issues, this paper develops a new state predation model relevant to large Russian SOEs. It argues, using the NOC (national oil company) mid-management recruitment and selection case, that SOEs are being re-oriented into centers of active regime support. Accordingly, the Russian government is prioritizing the placement of loyal clients, into NOC structures, who advance the SOEs' growing political obligations. It is also rewarding them, in a performance-curbing manner, through tolerating their inadequate economic competence and heightened engagement in corporate corruption. At the same time, non-clients, including top international talent, are experiencing diminishing recruitment numbers and opportunities. This status quo, then, is being maintained via informal (closed and procedure-less) practices, though certain formal rules support it too. Consequently, the above-outlined state predation insights are important to understanding SOE political over-embeddedness and patron–client relations in emerging market SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how political conflicts affect trade, using both the Goldstein score that scales all political conflicts daily worldwide and the firm-country-product level data of Chinese imports. We find that political conflicts reduce Chinese imports in general. Specifically, (i) the imports of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are most reduced, and the effects mostly fall on imports of intermediate goods while not so much on capital goods; (ii) foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) are less negatively affected, because most of their trade is processing, which is less negatively affected by political conflicts than ordinary trade. These results are obtained via mechanisms in the mode of trade (processing vs. ordinary), variations in broad economic categories (BEC) and import boycotts and export controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States (U.S.) government and judiciary have long been trying to understand the state-backed or state-influenced actions behind Chinese enterprises that threaten U.S. businesses and economy. This Article takes advantage of a recent "party-building" (dangjian) reform in Chinese stateowned enterprises (SOEs) to dissect the power struggle between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and SOEs and shed light on the opaque terrain of political influence in business in China. By presenting the four-year partybuilding charter-amendment data from 2015 to 2018, this Article documents the voting responses of external shareholders and finds evidence of insider control in SOEs and SOE managerial resistance against political influence. Foreign and minority shareholders expressed their concerns about enhancing the party's influence by voting against the amendments. However, their power is limited given the state's dominating shareholding in SOEs. This Article also finds resistance from SOE managers. High-level, nationally important central SOEs are more likely to resist party order. Even after multiple amendment requests from the government, resisting SOEs still adopted fewer party-building provisions than other adopting SOEs. Resisting SOEs are also less profitable and less internationally competitive, suggesting that they might suffer from insider-control problems. This Article thus argues that the writing-in of party-building provisions is not just putting something already in practice into written words, as conventionally believed. The charter amendment illustrated the power struggle between the CCP and SOE managers and was, in fact, a political renegotiation in which the CCP regained its control over SOEs by institutionalizing party organizations in business. However, the charter amendment does not warrant power shifting; it is just the first step. It remains to be seen whether institutionalizing party influence in business makes real changes in business decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cloud computing simplifies the access of applications and data from any location worldwide using Internet connected devices. Whilst adoption of cloud computing seems to be attractive, most companies are still using the on-premise enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Cloud computing provides organizations with scalable computer resources; nevertheless, state-owned corporations in South Africa have a poor adoption rate for integrating ERP and, in particular, payroll into the cloud (SOEs). Objectives: The goal of the study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of ERP payroll cloud solutions in SOEs and basing on these factors develop an ERP payroll cloud solution adoption model. Method: In this study, a qualitative research approach was employed. Data were collected through observation, interviews and document reviews, and were analysed using thematic analysis method. Results: The a priori themes for this study: policy, security, cost, compliance and privacy were confirmed, whilst Protection of Personal Information Act, data centre location and top management emerged and were found to have a substantial influence in cloud ERP Payroll adoption process in SOEs. Conclusion: To move from on-premise to cloud ERP solution, SOEs managers need clarity on: Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) act adherence, data centre location, top management support, privacy assurance, security guarantee, cost effectiveness, compliance controls and policy formulation adoption and implementation. The studied SOEs were not yet ready to migrate from on-premise solution to a cloud solution because of these factors. Addressing the above-mentioned concerns may enable SOEs' managers to gain confidence in adopting cloud services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The formulation, implementation and evaluation of inventory policies are vital for adequate management of inventory in organisations to ensure seamless flow of inventory and customer satisfaction. Inventory policies offer the required guidelines on how inventory should be managed in organisations to attain inventory management goals. However, it is unclear whether these guidelines are efficaciously implemented to enhance the inventory management performance of Eskom and Transnet in the Gauteng Province. Objective: This study sought to investigate the efficacy of inventory policy implementation at each of the selected SOEs in the Gauteng Province. Method: The study employed a qualitative research design with a sample of twenty-four inventory staff, of which fifteen were from SOE1 and nine from SOE2. The sampled population (inventory staff) were selected purposefully at each SOE in the Gauteng Province. Data were mainly gathered by means of semi-structured interviews and were thematically analysed. Results: The study generated four themes that reveal the extent of inventory policy implementation and its associated impact on inventory costs at each SOE. These themes included adherence to inventory policy, inventory policy violations, implementation extent of inventory policy, inventory growth rate and the associated increase in inventory carrying costs and lack of inventory planners' planning skills. Conclusion: Inventory policies were not fully implemented at each SOE. Poor inventory purchasing decision and violation of inventory policies contributed to inventory growth rate and excess inventory carrying and its associated costs. This therefore negatively affects the inventory management performance of SOE 1 and SOE 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous decentralisation of the property rights of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) constitutes one of the most important market-oriented reforms in China. However, previous studies have seldom investigated the relationship between changes to enterprises' property rights and energy intensity. As industrial departments consume most of China's total energy, this study examines the influence of changes to enterprises' property ownership on industrial energy intensity across China's provincial regions. Based on a series of econometric analysis and China's 30 provincial regions between 2005 and 2019, the empirical results indicate that decentralising industrial SOEs' property rights is beneficial for controlling industrial energy intensity. This study also found that regions' degree of openness accelerated this effect. In particular, although the expansion of SOEs increases energy intensity, openness helps SOEs enhance energy sustainability. However, there is significant heterogeneity between different regions and periods. Furthermore, we investigate the roles of research and development (R&D) efficiency and structural change that explain how the decentralisation of SOEs' property rights influences regional industrial energy intensity. The results could help policymakers control the industrial energy intensity in the background of market-oriented reforms. • The effect of enterprises' property rights on regional industrial energy intensity is analyzed. • Regional openness moderates decentralising property rights and industrial energy intensity. • No effect of increasing enterprises' property rights for SOEs on decreasing energy intensity. • Decentralising the SOEs' property rights significantly decreases industrial energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's effectiveness in quickly solving the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and in softening its economic impact is rooted in the structural characteristics of its development model, in which state-owned enterprises remain crucial. This article holds that a strong public presence within the industrial and banking sectors has provided Chinese government with the opportunity to rapidly reactivate domestic production and, potentially, to maximise the effectiveness of the recently launched monetary and fiscal policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide meaningful information about sponsorship management in state-owned enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative and quantitative data from Germany are analyzed in a case study approach using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (Fs/QCA)—an analytic method relevant for describing configurational patterns of causal factors. Findings: The case study of sponsorships from state-owned enterprises in Germany reveals four alternative configurations of top-management support, sponsee prominence, standardized processes, and sponsorship leverage explaining sponsor satisfaction. Originality/value: The paper combines two underrepresented but important aspects of sponsorship research, i.e. sponsorship management in state-owned enterprises, in an empirical study. Further, present study adds to sponsorship literature by pointing to fuzzy-set Fs/QCA as a relatively novel method that can capture the phenomenon of complex causality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is general acceptance that urban governance in China is entrepreneurial in nature, little has been written about the precise ways in which Chinese cities implement entrepreneurial policies. In this article we argue that the primary agents of urban entrepreneurialism in China are urban investment and development companies (UIDCs), known in Chinese as chengtou for short. We start by defining UIDCs as a category of state‐owned enterprise, but one that is wholly owned by local (often city) governments. We note that in the literature UIDCs are generally recognized for their involvement in raising funds for projects and piling up hidden debts, but their multiple roles in urban development tend to be neglected. We introduce here four UIDCs that have been largely responsible for the transformation of Shanghai into a modern city spearheading Chinese state entrepreneurialism, and in doing so we delineate the full range of the activities of these urban business empires. We argue in particular that they represent a corporate involvement by the state in urban development—the state presenting itself in the guise of a market player, a corporate entity able to raise funds and act as if it were a private company. UIDCs are the driving force behind China's urban entrepreneurialism and are without a clear parallel elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]