The State of Governance at State-Owned Enterprises

The impact of SOEs is likely to be greater than those statistics suggest, because many operate in infrastructure industries—telecommunications, transportation, financial services, etc... This article focuses on three areas of development critical to improving SOE governance: Professionalization of government ownership, Strengthened commercial orientation, and Stronger, more independent boards. While SOE reforms have covered a wide terrain, the three areas examined here stand out as particularly critical to bolstering their governance. Notably, all of them seek to insulate SOEs from undue political interference.