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This study evaluates the effect of returnee directors on corporate tax avoidance by using data on publicly listed Chinese companies from 2000 to 2012. Returnee directors grow up in China and then study or work abroad before returning home to be listed firms' board directors. We use the introduction of provincial policies toward attracting skilled individuals with foreign experience as an instrumental variable for Returnee directors, which is the fraction of returnee directors divided by the total number of directors within a firm. Using quantile regression, we find a positive relation between Returnee directors and corporate tax avoidance for low levels of tax avoidance but a negative relation for high levels of tax avoidance. The result is robust to a battery of tests. The relation between returnee directors and tax avoidance is stronger for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than non-SOEs and stronger for returnees who hold MBA degrees, possess a background in accounting or auditing, or are independent directors than other returnees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does government influence over state-owned enterprises affect the latter investment decisions? We argue that governments use their influence over the SOEs to build or strengthen a political coalition that supports the governments' agenda. We use a sample of 96,379 observations from publicly listed firms and SOEs from 41 countries and argue that the greater the potential conflict between principal-principal, the greater the investments by SOEs. Government influence over SOEs can lead to inefficient decisions, favoring investments in politically disputed regions over economically attractive ones. Our findings have theoretical implications for the literature on minority shareholders' rights and government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the global activities of high-value Indian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) classified by the government as "Maharatnas" and "Navratnas." Using the FESPET framework, the paper assesses their performance and international presence, revealing their commitment to a public mission beyond financial gains. These SOEs prioritise social spending and often surpass regulatory environmental targets, serving as valuable assets in India and globally. Profitable SOEs demonstrate positive impacts abroad, while financially unsustainable ones fall short in contributing to the non-financial "ESPET" dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bringing the literature on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state capitalism in conversation with studies on offshore financial centers (OFCs), this paper dissects the post-2000 internationalization of Russian SOE Gazprom via the OFC of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Not adhering to the conventional financial logics of private firms, nor exclusively following political orders of the Kremlin, Gazprom is one of the exemplary state-capital hybrids of the new state capitalism. Where Gazprom steadily increased Russia's geopolitical leverage over Europe's energy needs prior to the 2022 military invasion of Ukraine, we stress that "it takes two to tango", as the internationalization of Gazprom could not have occurred without active and passive help of capitalist states elsewhere. We argue that the Netherlands functions as a transnational capitalist state in the service of foreign capital, including state capital, with Amsterdam's corporate services providers having long provided the legal stepping stones and corporate respectability enabling Gazprom to expand internationally. In this sense, the prevalent "othering" of SOEs and state capital neglects how the global ascent of state capitalism could not have happened without dedicated assistance orchestrated in leading Western OFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of recent reforms affecting the public sector, maximizing good governance and performance of state‐owned enterprises is a major challenge for governments. The aim of the study is to provide a systematic and holistic review of the literature related to corporate governance and performance of state‐owned enterprises, to highlight and clarify the evolutionary trajectory of the field. To achieve the research objective, 409 publications that mention the term state‐owned enterprises and performance, indexed in the Web of Science database between 1997 and 2022 were analyzed by applying multiple bibliometric analysis methods and content analysis. The citation and co‐citation analysis results offer an outline of the most influential articles and journals, and links between authors, and provides a thematic classification. Through keyword co‐occurrence analysis, the paper highlights the research trends in the literature concerning state‐owned enterprises and proposes future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the paradigms of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Bulgaria. The author has conducted qualitative research based on case studies with in-depth interviews with long-term executives in key Bulgarian SOEs. The results of the author's findings on the nature of innovation and barriers to innovation in Bulgarian SOEs are presented. Research results illustrate the nature of innovations in SOEs as well as management’s understanding of innovation in the context of entrepreneurial activities. The results show the role of SOEs and their contribution to the level of innovation in the country's economy. A unique combination of barriers to innovation for SOEs are identified that are specific to the Bulgarian context. The study contributes to the understanding of the functional dynamics of innovations in SOEs in Bulgaria, offering conclusions and recommendations for policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consistent distribution of economic value from state-owned companies in Indonesia to both external and internal stakeholders over the long term is crucial as an indicator of company growth. This research aims to demonstrate the influence of stakeholder value on the performance of state-owned enterprises in Indonesia. Using panel data to measure predictor consistency over the long term, the study finds that the data is stationary and cointegration occurs in the long term. The findings are: (a) Government Value positively influences return on equity (ROE) and sustainable growth rate (SGR) but has no effect on return on assets (ROA); (b) Customer Value positively influences ROA but has no effect on ROE and SGR; (c) Social Value has no significant impact on ROA, ROE and SGR; (d) Debt-holder Value negatively influences ROA, ROE and SGR; (e) Supplier Value positively influences ROA, ROE and SGR; (f) Employee Value positively influences ROE but has no effect on ROA and SGR; and (g) Shareholder Value positively influences ROE but has no effect on ROA and SGR. These findings indicate inconsistencies in the impact of stakeholder value on company performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBetween 2017 and 2021, Vietnam saw the fastest annual proportional increase in renewables ever seen across the world. This was financially supported by the state-owned energy company, Vietnam Electric (EVN), with debt and equity from domestic and Asian regional sources. Vietnam’s experience contributes to an emerging research agenda at the intersection of the ‘green state’ and ‘international financial subordination’: It questions the Wall Street Consensus’s concern about international finance limiting host countries’ policy maneuverability. Drawing on primary data from 33 interviews, I analyze Vietnam’s experience through the case of EVN. I find that within its international financial constraints, Vietnam resisted the Wall Street Consensus. Instead, Vietnam used feed-in-tariffs as a less restrictive de-risking tool to attract domestic and regional financiers who assessed project risks differently from their Western counterparts. I show how the Vietnamese state did this by using EVN as a tool for market-creation through mission-driven and state-owned enterprise (SOE)-orchestrated de-risking – without resorting to the debilitating guarantees entailed by the Wall Street Consensus. Extrapolating from the Vietnamese case, I argue that Global South countries may be able to resist the Wall Street Consensus and maintain sufficient maneuverability for a green state approach despite the limitations imposed by international financial subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the global political economy of the relationship between energy, ground rent, and the state. In its role as the 'nation's landlord', the state is widely acknowledged to have a central role in the political economy of energy, either as the enabler and guarantor for private rent extraction or by itself controlling the extraction and redistribution of rents engendered by national energy resources. This paper broadens the geographical purview of research on the landlord state by aiming attention at the rise in recent decades of the state as a major rentier in the world market. More than asserting ownership over land and its appurtenances within territorial borders, landlord states have become significant owners and profiteers of extraterritorial energy resources. Taking the historical geography of the Norwegian energy industry as an empirical point of departure, the paper explores how the landlord state that was built in the 20th century by taking public control over national energy resources since the turn of the millennium has become a considerable owner of energy resources abroad, effectively positioning itself as a major global rentier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship among corporate social and environmental disclosures, firm risk, and board gender diversity. This paper offers fresh insights into the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosures and gender diversity and firm risk., Using panel data of Chinese nonfinancial A‐share‐listed companies from 2008 to 2020, we discover that the correlation between gender diversity on the board and corporate social and environmental disclosures has a significant negative influence on firm risk. The findings also revealed that the impact of gender diversity and corporate social and environmental disclosures is more pronounced to mitigate firm risk in nonstate‐owned enterprises than in state‐owned enterprises. For robustness, we used the generalized method of moments to control for reverse causality and endogenous variables' existence; the findings are similar to the main results. The study contributes to the literature by offering a contingency approach to examine the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosures and firm risk and sheds light on the relationship in the context of a developing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a systematic literature review on the relationship between outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and technological upgrading in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), emphasizing the moderating role of political ties and subnational institutions. Analyzing 51 core papers from 2011 to 2022, the study synthesizes key theories on how political ties influence Chinese SOEs’ technological upgrading through OFDI. It also finds that political ties affect motivations and resources of SOEs with various types of state ownership and thus affect their OFDI strategies and innovation capabilities. This research further explores the impact of subnational institutions and their interactions with political ties. The findings underscore the perspective that subnational institutions shape a firm’s learning capability, and their impact is moderated by SOEs’ political ties. Finally, the study identifies key issues in SOEs’ technological upgrading through OFDI and offers valuable insights for policymakers and SOE managers. Future research directions are outlined to understand the impact of OFDI on the technological upgrading of Chinese SOEs.

The public sector literature on sustainability management accounting (SMA) has grown significantly in recent years, with numerous theoretical and empirical studies examining the purported link between management accounting and corporate sustainability within organisations. However, despite this surge, prior studies have largely confined their analytical scope to traditional SMA issues, such as corporate social, environmental, and governance responsibilities. Their analyses have predominantly concentrated on largely investigated elements such as situational linkages, transformational dynamics, agency issues, resistance, and conflicts. This study aims to address these limitations by examining corporate SMA systems within the burgeoning field of urban development. It utilises institutional theory and a case study from Egypt, a developing country, to explore how urban development could impact adopting a corporate SMA system in politically sensitive state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Contrary to existing literature, the findings indicate that urban development has created financial pressures for national governments, which have used these as a political instrument to implement a corporate SMA system within related SOEs. Additionally, the findings highlight the significant role of management accountants as central figures in integrating and standardising a corporate SMA system into the daily practices of current executives through advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology. Moreover, as a development of institutional theory, the findings demonstrate the influence of corporate SMA reports on the decision-making processes of national governments in the context of urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on province-level data on China's local institutional environment from 2008 to 2014, we explore the relationship between the local institutional environment and stock price crash risk. We find that a stronger local institutional environment curbs stock price crash risk. Furthermore, we explore the relationship between local institutional environment and stock price crash risk for state-owned versus privately owned enterprises. We find that a stronger local institutional environment is more likely to curb stock price crash risk in state-owned enterprises than in privately owned enterprises. Our results are robust to additional tests. These findings suggest that it is necessary to accelerate the progress of local marketization in China to ensure the development of the stock market and a strong economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: the objective of this paper is to explore the extent of compliance on combined assurance model, which is an innovative corporate governance and management tool that integrates and optimizes all assurance services and functions to support the integrity of organizational external reports. Theoretical approach: based on this premise, this study analyzes the compliance of SOEs in Namibia with the requirements of the combined assurance model or how they have explained their non-compliance in their annual/integrated reports. Methods: we developed a combined assurance compliance reporting quality (CACRQ) checklist, which we applied using content analysis to the publicly available annual/integrated reports of Tier 1, 2, and 3 SOEs in Namibia. Results: the study found that most of the SOEs have not adopted the combined assurance model. Further findings indicate that the SOEs' report on compliance with the combined assurance model lacks quality in terms of what a combined assurance report should entail, with the exception of the assurance strategy. Their reports may not convince stakeholders that internal controls have been adequately carried out, which is the main goal of a combined assurance report. Conclusions: we conclude by highlighting the policy implications of the findings and pointing to future research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the integration of corporate, environmental and social factors into the management of business has been intensively promoted. Our paper focuses on the quality of the sustainability reports (SR) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The methodological approach is based on the framework for content analysis provided by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) disclosure in non-financial/SR, using the translation table for linking SDGs and GRI Standards to evaluate the status of SDG compliance. The results reveal that companies in both countries generally report most intensively in the economic segment, as far as GRI standards and SDGs are concerned, exposing the economic value in the Benington (2011) theoretical model. Comparatively, Slovenian SOEs' SRs disclose on average a lower percentage of GRI standards in all four segments (general, economic, environmental, and social) than Austrian SOEs, while more than 70% of SDG 4 is reported in Slovenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the unhealthy principal-agent relationships prevalent in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), these enterprises often lack transparency in financial reporting and other critical information. Drawing on signaling theory, this study examines the impact of mixed-ownership reform (MOR) on financial constraints in Chinese SOEs. Using data from listed manufacturing SOEs between 2009 and 2019, we find that every 0.1 increase in the proportion of non-state shareholders, a proxy for MOR intensity, is associated with an average 2.34 ‰ reduction in financial constraints. This mitigation in constraints primarily arises from decreased information asymmetry between enterprises and the external capital market. Specifically, MOR promotes corporate information disclosure, which sends quality signals to investors, while simultaneously reinforcing corporate governance, which projects intention signals to capital markets. Notably, the effectiveness of MOR in alleviating financial constraints is more significant in capital-intensive and information-sensitive industries, as well as in central SOEs. These findings not only highlight the critical role of MOR in alleviating information asymmetry within SOEs, but also provide valuable insights for similar reforms aimed at advancing sustainable development of SOEs in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mixed-ownership reform has been the mainstream for the SOE reform in China, but rarely is known whether this reform can improve the overall profitability of SOEs. Therefore, this paper would like to fill this literature gap by testing the impact of China's ongoing mixed-ownership reform on SOEs profitability.This reform encourages private capital to purchase shares of SOEs, so it can be regarded as a privatization plan for SOEs. Using the Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach, we treat SOEs undergoing the reform as the treatment group and those not undergoing the reform as the control group. Our results indicate that the reform significantly increases the profitability of reformed SOEs. Mechanism analysis suggests that the reform enhances SOE profitability by reducing redundant workers, administrative fees, and related-party transactions. We also find that the effects of the reform are heterogeneous, with greater impacts observed among SOEs in unregulated industries, local SOEs, and SOEs in areas with low marketization. Overall, our research enriches the literature on privatization and mixed-ownership reform, and also provides empirical evidence to promote mixed-ownership reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between firm-level factors and the quality of corporate governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in an emerging economy, namely Vietnam. We employ a self-built corporate governance index (CGI) for SOEs and conduct an empirical analysis of data from 113 listed SOEs on the stock market of Vietnam from 2016- 2020 using a fixed effect model (FEM) as suggested by the Hausman test. We find that firm-level characteristics such as firm age and tangibility of assets as well as macroeconomic factors such as the quality of the business climate and economic growth exhibit a statistically significant correlation with the corporate governance quality of SOEs. On the other hand, there is no established statistically significant relationship between other firm characteristics such as firm size, state ownership, financial leverage, growth opportunities and corporate governance. These results for an emerging economy like Vietnam are novel and provide implications for policymakers, regulators, shareholders and other stakeholders on the possibility of enhancing the quality of corporate governance of SOEs in an emerging market, a critical issue given the increasing role of SOEs in economies. Our research can be improved for future research in a couple of aspects. First, addressing the case of companies that do not disclose their governance practices in annual reports would help enhance the information for the corporate governance index. Second, extending the data to compare listed SOEs with other listed firms would provide a more comprehensive analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased public awareness toward Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has intensified the pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to adopt more responsible practices. As a top supplier of Western pharmaceutical companies, Chinese pharmaceutical companies are not immune to these same pressures as they engage with overseas regulators and investors. This study analyzes the factors that contribute to the CSR disclosures of publicly listed Chinese pharmaceutical companies covering 2014–2018. In the analysis, peer comparison and market-driven incentives to disclose a firm's CSR impacts and risks come out as a robust determinant of overall disclosure and its components. While stakeholder awareness and strategic CSR have some varying degrees of associations with the five pillars of CSR disclosures, institutional framework and spill-over effect seem to have only limited influence on these disclosures. The results highlight some interesting dynamics and can provide insights into the implications of fostering a CSR-oriented business culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic literature has made an effort to demonstrate the positive effects of privatisation reforms on government performance and economic growth. However, there is no sufficient evidence to support the benefits of privatisation in terms of government spending efficiency. This study analyses the correlation between privatisation and government spending efficiency. Our empirical results do not support a positive effect of privatisation on government spending efficiency. These findings are relevant because they suggest that, although privatisation has been usually seen as a tool to balance public finances, it does not mean that government spending efficiency will be higher after privatising State‐owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non‐compliance with transparency obligations among publicly owned enterprises has revealed the lack of coercive capacity of the legislation. In this context, literature suggests that mandatory disclosure becomes a matter of company willingness, but this has not been empirically tested so far. Drawing on Oliver's (1991) typology of organizational strategies and studies on normativity production, this study analyzes whether voluntary disclosure levels of financial and non‐financial information determine compliance with transparency legal requirements for the case of Andalusian state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) owned by local and regional governments. We have verified this question using linear regression analysis. The analysis proves that when transparency legislation lacks enforcement power, the level of voluntary disclosure determines the level of legal compliance. Both voluntary and mandatory disclosure levels are explained by the same determinants, suggesting that disclosure is determined by reasons of legitimacy and commitment to transparency. This contributes to the research lines on normativity and transparency in SOEs, being also relevant for lawmakers. This study provides evidence for Oliver's (1991) theoretical arguments about firms' strategies in the face of institutional pressures. It offers policy‐makers and SOE managers an insight into how prepared SOEs are to respond to the demands for greater transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a practice among OECD countries of establishing restrictions for state-owned enterprises to develop new products in addition to their main production. Scarce attention is paid to how such an approach affects public enterprises' performance in favour of the public good; thus, it must be clarified. This research aims to propose competition policy improvements based on the evaluated impact of new product restrictions on competition neutrality. The research methodology includes interviews with Latvian public sector stakeholders concerning the advantages of optimal use of the company's resources and risks' diversification. Private sector disadvantages if state-owned enterprises offer their products in private-dominated markets are considered. It was observed that national policy is contradictory: there is an emphasis on efficiency goals, but the expansion initiatives by state-owned enterprises in the market are accepted reluctantly. Taking advantage of state-owned enterprises to boost R&D innovations is important to fostering Latvian regional development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is a communication channel between companies and stakeholders. As the literature has largely been confined to exploring privately-owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises (SOEs)—a typical example of public sector organizations—warrant further investigation. This study examines SOEs' accountability structures and reporting features, which are dominated by state owners and mainly driven by non-financial objectives. Through a content analysis of the CSR reports of 49 SOEs and 111 non-SOEs in China, we analyze the stakeholders and CSR domains involved in the reporting. The findings demonstrate that SOEs disseminate the full coverage of stakeholders and a wider scope of CSR domains in disclosure. We extend the debate on CSR-reporting research by demonstrating how state ownership influences hybrid organizations' self-expression and accountability frame through our finding of a distinctive specialized sub-organization with strong ties to the state that drives CSR internally. [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]

Since the late 1970s, Singapore has been an important policy reference for China. Some Chinese policymakers viewed Temasek, its government holding company, as a model for state asset management. They studied Singapore's approach, but ultimately chose a different institutional design when establishing the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) in 2003. China's engagement with Temasek subsequently concentrated on corporate governance, specifically boards of directors in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Yet despite the Temasek model's appeal, its influence in China was limited by the far greater size and indebtedness of the state sector; the weaker role of firm performance in asset and capital allocation; SOEs' numerous social and welfare functions; lack of willingness to augment firm autonomy; and divergent interpretations of the Temasek model and its reference value. "Policy collage" by Chinese policymakers explains the existence of formal similarities between China and advanced capitalist economies without fundamental convergence in function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the constraints and capacities for Canadian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to enhance economic democracy. Constraints include the democratic deficit produced by the commercialization of SOEs, which shifted away from historically privileging the social outcomes of public enterprise, together with the construction of a global governance architecture with binding and enforceable trade agreements that constrain democratic decision-making and state activity. Capacities include opportunities for SOEs to address deleterious economic outcomes through a rejuvenation of the socially oriented public enterprise tradition in areas of vexing policy concern. The article argues that SOEs can be an important component of enhanced extended state democracy through their redistributive outcomes that provide non-market income support for social infrastructure and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to delve into the obstacles preventing the effective management of tacit knowledge risks in South African public sector enterprises (PSEs) from the perspectives of human resource management (HRM) and knowledge management (KM). A perusal of the literature reveals that most South African PSEs are grappling with significant challenges related to potential tacit knowledge loss risks. Design/methodology/approach: The research utilised a mixed methods exploratory sequential design, collecting qualitative data through interviews with 20 HR managers in 9 PSEs and survey data from 585 questionnaires. The reliability of the data was tested, and thematic analysis was performed using Atlas.ti software. Findings: The study identified key barriers to effective tacit knowledge loss risk management in PSEs, including a silo mentality, organisational red-tape, knowledge as a power source, lack of recognition and rewards, KM awareness, cultures and structures, employment equity, fixed-term contracts, competing priorities for leadership, knowledge hoarding, HRM practices, and inadequate KM technologies and systems. These pressing issues need to be addressed to improve knowledge risk management (KRM) efforts in PSEs. Research limitations/implications: The exploration of organisational barriers was only limited to the tacit knowledge loss risks category, induced by human resource turnover in country-specific PSEs. Future studies could explore the organisational barriers and factors affecting other types of knowledge risks in PSEs or similar knowledge-intensive business enterprises across the globe using different samples and populations. Other similar studies could include strategic sectors of the economy such as energy generation, civil aviation, defence, mining and rail. The study contributes to the knowledge-based view and knowledge stickiness theories, and proposes an interdisciplinarity approach using mixed methods for future research on tacit knowledge loss. Practical implications: The research findings conclusively indicate that PSEs face the aforementioned barriers that hinder the effective implementation of the KRM system. This study identifies that key organisational barriers were mainly due to a lack of knowledge-driven HRM strategies in KM. To address these barriers, HR managers and other stakeholders must collaborate to ensure effective knowledge management and mitigate the negative impact of knowledge loss risks on organisational performance. Social Implications: The study highlights the importance of removing key barriers for improved KRM in PSEs. The improved KRM can enhance public service delivery efficiency, transparency and the accountability of PSEs by addressing socio-economic developmental issues in developing economies. Originality/value: Using South African PSEs as a case to address this challenge, the paper sought to explore key organisational barriers to effective knowledge loss risk management in organisations with a view to shaping discourse, policies, research, theories and practices in KM and HRM. Organisational barriers affecting the management of such risks remain unexplored in the extant body of knowledge and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper investigates the impact of US uncertainty shocks on China's macroeconomy with a focus on the dynamic response of investment. Using a structural vector autoregression (VAR) model, we find that the wait-and-see mechanism of aggregate investment in the face of heightened US uncertainty disappears in China. Robust evidence confirms that the increase in state-owned enterprises' investment in response to heightened uncertainty explains this puzzle, while private-owned enterprises' investment decreases as expected. We apply regime-dependent local projections to link uncertainty shocks with credit regimes to explore whether the impact of US uncertainty shocks on investment in China has varied over time in connection with the states of bank loans. The empirical results support a positive response of state-owned enterprises' investment to increased US uncertainty during the tightening of medium- and long-term bank loans but a negative reaction when short-term bank loans are tightening. Finally, we show that economic policy uncertainty conveying political signals leads to a decline in state-owned enterprises' investment. Overall, this paper provides richer empirical evidence on the investment-uncertainty nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unraveling the intricate ties between top management, human resource management, and firm innovation is crucial in today's dynamic business landscape. The role of firm ownership is particularly vital in understanding these processes, especially within the context of increasingly diverse ownership structures. This study leverages the signaling theory and the upper echelon theory to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of top management (TM)'s strategic human resource focus (SHF) on firm innovation and improvement (FII). We investigate the moderating effect of firm ownership structures (state-owned enterprises and privately-owned enterprises) and the mediating effect of a high-performance work system (HPWS) in these processes. Findings reveal that TM's SHF has both a positive direct effect and a positive indirect effect on FII through the implementation of HPWS. The study affirms the moderating influence of firm ownership on the relationship between TM's SHF and HPWS, as well as on the mediating effect of HPWS in the relationship between TM's SHF and FII. Our analysis also uncovers distinct patterns in how firm ownership moderates the direct and indirect effects of TM's SHF on FII. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enable state-owned enterprises in Industry 5.0 to better carry out M&A activities, it is important and necessary to provide early warning of M&A risks, which directly affects the interests of both parties and even affects the effectiveness of state-owned enterprise reform. The author proposes the optimization of big data analysis resources supported by the XGBoost algorithm: a comprehensive analysis of Industry 5.0 and ESG performance. Design a comprehensive evaluation system to measure the M&A risk of state-owned listed companies. Using Python programming language to achieve data crawling and processing. Build an early warning model using the XGBoost algorithm. To further evaluate the effectiveness of the early warning model, comparative experiments were conducted. Using multiple linear regression models to study the significant factors of merger and acquisition risk. The experimental results show that the prediction accuracy based on the XGBoost algorithm is 80 %, which performs the best among all models and has stronger reliability and applicability. Conclusion: The return on investment capital, operating profit margin, and net profit from paid consideration are more important and effective in predicting merger and acquisition risks; The total asset turnover rate, return on investment capital, equity balance, and audit quality are more conducive to suppressing merger and acquisition risks.

Background: Performance reporting and measurement in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been ambiguous for years subject to the nature of the sector. State-owned enterprises are third sector public entities characterised by hybridity of rationales, heterogeneity of goals and multiple stakeholders’ interest. Besides, the diverse institutional frameworks and ownership structure in SOEs make performance reporting and measurements in the sector more complex than in private profit enterprises. Aim: The systematic review of the literature focusses on performance reporting practices in SOEs. It examines SOE performance report users, performance measurement metrics, and the alignment of objectives and performance information. Method: Critical searches of literature in databases such as Scopus or Science Direct, Emerald Insight and JSTOR were made using ’performance reporting’ and/or ’State-owned Enterprises’ as main keywords. More literature was explored in Google Scholar. Results: The concept of performance reporting in SOEs is embedded in broader subjects such as ‘governance in public sectors’, ‘corporate governance in SOEs’ and ‘accountability in public sector’. Performance reports of SOEs in practice focus on the traditional financial performance measurement. Conclusion: There is no straightforward approach in performance reporting of SOEs in the literature. This shows that performance reporting in SOEs is highly slanted, making it difficult to assess efficiency of SOEs. Contribution: The article contributes in unlocking knowledge in highly blurred practices of performance reporting in SOEs.

The sector of state-owned enterprises (SOEs)1 in the Republic of Moldova is plagued by the problem of weak governance, both at the state level (regulations and policies) and at the company level. As a result, the financial and operational performance of SOEs over the last years has been in continuous decline. However, state-owned enterprises can be transformed from a burden for Moldova’s economic development into a source of opportunities and tools that could generate a number of important economic reforms. The results of the given research demonstrate that state-owned enterprises have the potential to serve as important channels for attracting private investment, boost capital market development, develop and promote new financial instruments, strengthen state security and fortify strategic infrastructure.

This study examines the impact of China’s mixed-ownership reform on the innovation of non-state-owned acquirers, with a particular focus on the impact on firms with high financing constraints, low-quality accounting information or less tangible assets. We use a proprietary dataset of firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges to investigate the impact of mixed ownership reform on non-state-owned enterprise (non-SOE) innovation. We employ regression analysis to examine the association between mixed ownership reform and firm innovation. The study finds that non-state-owned firms can improve innovation by acquiring equity in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the reform. Eased financing constraints, lowered financing costs, better access to tax incentives or government subsidies, lowered agency costs, better accounting information quality and more credit loans are underlying the impact. Additionally, cross-ownership connections amongst non-SOE executives and government intervention strengthen the impact, whilst regional marketisation weakens it. This study adds to the literature on the association between mixed ownership reform and firm innovation by focussing on the conditions under which this impact is stronger. It also sheds light on the policy implications for SOE reforms in emerging economies.

This paper provides a new theoretical rationale for public procurement for innovation (PPI), a unique policy encouraging public procurers to purchase innovative products. In contrast to existing studies that primarily emphasize the advantages of PPI, this paper takes a comprehensive approach, examining both the costs and risks associated with PPI, alongside its benefits. It finds a general condition under which PPI outperforms traditional public procurement. Under this condition, this paper demonstrates that PPI enhances social welfare by facilitating optimal risk-sharing between public procurers and the general economy. Additionally, it draws policy implications from a comparative analysis between the current PPI policy in Korea and an optimal PPI policy.

Corporate governance and company value are essential issues in managing state-owned companies in Indonesia. This research examines the influence of corporate governance index and related-party transactions on the value of state-owned companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange by analyzing the role of political connections as a moderating variable. The population of this research is all state-owned companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2022. The research sample was obtained using a purposive sampling technique. Data analysis uses moderated regression analysis. This research found that, in the case of state-owned companies in Indonesia, the corporate governance index positively affected company value. In contrast, related-party transactions harmed company value. Political connections have not been proven to be a moderating variable in the influence of corporate governance index on company value. However, they are proven on the influence between related-party transactions and company value. Investors in the Indonesian capital market assess political connections in state-owned companies in Indonesia as increasing the risk that it will worsen the influence of related-party transactions and the value of state-owned companies.

This research aims to analyze alternative models of public financing in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme involving the government and the corporate sector. This research utilizes a qualitative research method with a content analysis data collection methodology to examine the limitations and shortcomings of PPPs. The findings of this study indicate that Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have shown a persistent pattern of failure, leading to continuous renegotiation between the government and the private sector. The implementation of PPPs carries risks that can lead to a loss of public oversight of PPP initiatives. The government's lack of experience in making judgments that can carry political risk also plays a role. The PPP model sets a higher cost of capital, which causes the private sector to charge higher tariffs to customers, possibly resulting in a monopoly by private companies. PPPs have imposed a burden on the state and faced opposition to privatization due to a lack of understanding among parties involved in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The government lacks transparency in decision-making regarding privatization and fails to provide adequate information to stakeholders involved in SOE privatization. Government decision-making on privatization lacks transparency and does not follow established processes and procedures.

Purpose: The article aims to propose the scope of an aggregated annual report on the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Poland. Design/methodology/approach: Analysis of the literature regarding the publication by supervisory authorities of aggregated annual reports on state-owned enterprises. Analysis of aggregated annual reports from 5 EU countries selected for comparative analysis. The choice of 5 out of 24 countries preparing an aggregated annual report on all SOEs resulted from the number and importance of SOEs in these countries. Findings: The analysis of aggregated annual reports from selected 5 countries showed that not all reports contain selected consolidated data of all SOEs or separate data about individual SOEs. In only 3 out of 5 countries (Sweden, Finland, and Norway) the reports contained aggregated data of all SOEs, and in 4 (apart from France) separate data of individual SOEs. Research limitation/implications: Due to the length of the article, only 5 countries out of 24 preparing annual aggregated reports on SOEs were included in the comparative analysis. Practical implications: The analysis is useful for all SOE stakeholders, especially politicians who create regulations concerning the state’s ownership policy and Polish society. Social influence: Introducing the need to publish an aggregated annual report on SOEs by the appointed state body (preferably the Ministry of State Assets) will positively impact the improvement of ownership supervision over these companies, to benefit the entire Polish society and other stakeholders. Originality/value: The analysis of aggregated annual reports on SOEs prepared in other countries and the indication of elements in these reports that can be used in the Polish report is a new solution. The results of the analysis are useful to politicians responsible for creating the state’s ownership policy, Polish society, and minority shareholders of SOEs interested in improving transparency in the supervision of SOEs, and thus in their operational effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dividend puzzle for private corporations has a long-lasting history. Six theories provide explanations to this puzzle. However, the dividend puzzle has not yet been discussed as an economic problem for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The article addresses this issue based mainly on the experience of the Bulgarian SOEs. In the paper all well-known six theoretical concepts of the dividend puzzle are presented and their strengths and weaknesses are analysed. Furthermore, the specific features of SOEs are brought out and the dividend puzzle for them is formulated. Presenting the experience of the dividend policy of SOEs, a confrontation with the theories is made. It is proved that only the theory of dividend payment preference is relevant to SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within state-owned enterprises (SOEs), supervisory board mandates are often given to politicians, many of whom are selected through political processes in which competence is not necessarily the decisive factor. This paper analyzes the impact of this form of governance, examining the business competence level of supervisory board members and their influence on the financial performance of 58 state-owned utility companies in Germany from 2011 to 2016 by applying OLS regression. For this purpose, the biographical backgrounds of 3350 supervisory board members were compiled to discern their education, management, and industry experience. Contrary to our hypotheses, the empirical analyses show no effects for any of the competence dimensions on companies' profitability. In a more detailed analysis, we find that board members with management experience from outside the energy sector seem detrimental to the company, which may indicate self-overestimation bias. This result is robust across different specifications and opens up an interesting new approach to analyzing the impact of board member competence on firm performance. The insignificance of the other competence areas indicates a rather low impact of supervisory boards on SOEs based on their unique institutional setting and in comparison to private sector corporate governance. Overall, this study contributes to both scholars and practitioners by providing new insights in the field of public corporate governance, focusing on the unique situation of the competence of politically connected boards and their influence on SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of remarkable results obtained, China requires more sophisticated economic structure and flexible institutions to foster its development in a more difficult context. Particularly important are the integration of public and private sectors, proper division of labor between them, and cooperative distinction of roles. The expansion of the private sector and entrepreneurship have been leading factors in China's economic miracle. However, despite the numbers of new private enterprises increasing, their dynamic innovation slowed down in recent years. This negatively affects the sustainability of China's economic growth. This paper considers several reasons for the attenuation of Chinese entrepreneurship and considers that it requires the revival of enterprise and ownership reform together with support to their innovative role. The latter should complement innovation in the public sector to counterbalance the biased structure and nature of Chinese innovation and afford new international challenges. This paper contributes to identifying solutions for reversing the deterioration of entrepreneurship in the frame of enterprises and ownership reform. Solutions lie in institutional innovation, like accelerating the pace of market-oriented reform, improving corporate governance for state-owned enterprises and commercial banks, strengthening domestic competitions, and deepening the mixed ownership reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does state‐owned enterprise (SOE) prevalence affect the employment adjustments of firms after trade liberalisation? This paper estimates the role of the prevalence of SOEs in the labour market in import competition by using city‐industry level panel data in China from 2000 to 2006. Our results indicate that import competition decreases employment in the manufacturing industry and that SOE prevalence could partially offset the negative effect on employment. This offsetting effect is demonstrated at both extensive and intensive margins. Moreover, SOE prevalence has a positive externality for the employment of non‐SOEs under the import competition shock. Therefore, we verify the positive externality of SOEs in labour market adjustment in response to import competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are present in key sectors of economies around the world. While they can provide an important public service, there is widespread concern that their activities and financial performance are hindered by corruption. In the meantime, cross-country analysis on the cost of corruption for SOEs remains scarce. We present new cross-country evidence on how corruption affects SOE performance using firm level data. We find that SOEs perform as well as private firms in core sectors when corruption is low but are significantly less efficient when corruption is high. We also show that, in turn, improvements in fiscal transparency and specific SOE governance reforms have the potential to improve SOE performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]