Corporate governance of state-owned enterprises: a systematic analysis of empirical literature

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deliver further insights into empirical research on corporate governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by systematizing existing knowledge, identifying current investigation backlogs, and deriving specific implications for future empirical research to address the lack of empirical knowledge in this field. Design/methodology/approach The study follows a literature analysis approach through a systematic, quantitative analysis of broad-based database queries from EBSCOhost and Web of Science to derive recommendations for future empirical research on SOE-oriented corporate governance. Findings The results indicate that empirical SOE-oriented corporate governance research is a growing field with wide-ranging opportunities for investigation. Given the lack of qualitative empirical research (representing only 21.7 percent of the studies identified) and the massive focus on regression analyses (69.9 percent) and secondary database data (77.2 percent), future empirical approaches should consider different methods and data sources. More qualitative research is needed for exploratory designs and canonical correlation-based statistical methods seem helpful for confirmatory approaches. In addition, 50.4 percent of the studies identified have a Chinese background, indicating room for studies from different cultural contexts. Research limitations/implications Given the range of the research field and the eclectic nature of the analytical approach, it is unlikely that every relevant scientific publication is included. Originality/value Since this study is the first of its kind, it contributes to SOE-oriented corporate governance research by drawing on a wide-ranging selection of studies and analyzing them to derive straightforward recommendations for future empirical research.

Mecanismos de controle na governança corporativa das empresas estatais: uma comparação entre Brasil e Portugal

“…After long privatization cycles, state-owned enterprises remain solid institutes and are widely present in many countries, while their corporate governance remains a major challenge for governments (DAISER, YSA and SCHMITT, 2017). Particularly in Brazil, several recent events involving corruption in large SOEs show the need to strengthen this governance and expand the study on the topic, since fewer than 05 related articles were identified in the Spell database that groups the articles of the Brazilian administration journals.…”

“…However, there are still few systematic studies on SOEs in general, as well as on SOEs corporative governance in particular (DAISER, YSA and SCHMITT, 2017). Grossi, Papenfuß and Tremblay (2015) demonstrate the gap in studies on SOEs governance, pointing out that governance and management deficits remain a major challenge in many countries.…”

Strategic Objectives for State‐owned Enterprises as a Means to Mitigate Political Interference: An Empirical Analysis of Two Swiss State‐owned Enterprises

“…This official and formal view on SOE mandates is not the topic of this paper because many other authors have already analyzed SOE mandates from this point of view (Daiser et al. ; Schwarting ; Grossi et al. ; OECD ; World Bank ; Whincop ).…”

“…Thus, they discuss whether SOE mandates are an appropriate tool to reduce interference of the government into SOEs (Daiser et al. ; Schwarting ; Grossi et al. ; OECD ; World Bank ; Whincop ).…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, this question has not been empirically analyzed because the existing empirical studies on SOE mandates focus on the relationship between the government and SOEs, thereby analyzing SOE mandates as a steering tool (Daiser et al . ; Whincop ; Schwarting ). In this paper, we go beyond the existing literature by analyzing whether SOE mandates are not only a formal steering tool of the government, but also an informal tool to mitigate parliamentary interference.…”