This Toolkit provides an overall framework with practical tools and information to help policymakers design and implement corporate governance reforms for state-owned enterprises. It concludes with guidance on managing the reform process, in particular how to prioritize and sequence reforms, build capacity, and engage with stakeholders.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are still signifi cant players in critical economic sectors such as infrastructure, finance, natural resources, and manufacturing. They are under increasing pressure to improve their performance. These pressures come from various sources, including the need to enhance their competitiveness and that of the economy as a whole, especially where SOEs are major players; to provide essential infrastructure, financial, and other services to businesses and consumers more efficiently and cost effectively; to access alternative sources of finance through the capital markets while reducing their fiscal burden and fi scal risk; and to enhance the transparency and accountability of the use of scarce public funds. Improved performance of financial SOEs is also essential for broader financial sector development and for ensuring the soundness and stability of the financial system. A long history of SOE reform shows that the key to better SOE performance is improved governance. The aim of the Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises: A Toolkit is to harness reform experiences and the growing body of knowledge to help policy makers and practitioners improve the corporate governance of SOEs. The toolkit provides an overall framework and practical solutions for improving SOE governance for the benefi t of all stakeholders: governments, managers, employees, consumers, and citizens. It focuses on commercial enterprises in which the government has significant control through full, majority, or signifi cant minority ownership. It includes SOEs in a range of sectors-manufacturing and services, utilities, banks and other financial institutions, and natural resources. The toolkit does not cover noncommercial SOEs fulfilling special public policy purposes (whether or not in a corporate form), although the frameworks and tools may still be relevant for such entities.

The aim of this paper is to shed new light on key challenges in governance arrangements for state owned enterprises in infrastructure sectors. The paper provides guidelines on how to classify the fuzzy and sometimes conflicting development goals of infrastructure and the governance arrangements needed to reach such goals. Three policy recommendations emerge. First, some of the structures implied by internationally adopted principles of corporate governance for state owned enterprises favoring a centralized ownership function versus a decentralized or dual structure have not yet been sufficiently "tested" in practice and may not suit all developing countries. Second, general corporate governance guidelines (and policy recommendations) need to be carefully adapted to infrastructure sectors, particularly in the natural monopoly segments. Because the market structure and regulatory arrangements in which state owned enterprises operate matters, governments may want to distinguish the state owned enterprises operating in potentially competitive sectors from the ones under a natural monopoly structure. Competition provides not only formidable benefits, but also unique opportunities for benchmarking, increasing transparency and accountability. Third, governments may want to avoid partial fixes, by tackling both the internal and external governance factors. Focusing only on one of the governance dimensions is unlikely to improve SOE performance in a sustainable way.

The aim of this paper is to shed new light on key challenges in governance arrangements for state owned enterprises in infrastructure sectors. The paper provides guidelines on how to classify the fuzzy and sometimes conflicting development goals of infrastructure and the governance arrangements needed to reach such goals. Three policy recommendations emerge. First, some of the structures implied by internationally adopted principles of corporate governance for state owned enterprises favoring a centralized ownership function versus a decentralized or dual structure have not yet been sufficiently tested in practice and may not suit all developing countries. Second, general corporate governance guidelines (and policy recommendations) need to be carefully adapted to infrastructure sectors, particularly in the natural monopoly segments. Because the market structure and regulatory arrangements in which state owned enterprises operate matters, governments may want to distinguish the state owned enterprises operating in potentially competitive sectors from the ones under a natural monopoly structure. Competition provides not only formidable benefits, but also unique opportunities for benchmarking, increasing transparency and accountability. Third, governments may want to avoid partial fixes, by tackling both the internal and external governance factors. Focusing only on one of the governance dimensions is unlikely to improve SOE performance in a sustainable way.

Eskom is a South African company that has developed from a state utility under apartheid into a competitive state-owned enterprise. This book draws on the knowledge about corporate governance in state-owned enterprises. It locates Eskom's experience in that context and argues that a state-owned enterprise can be run as efficiently as any other.

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

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play significant roles in developing economies in Asia and SOE performance remains crucial for economy-wide productivity and growth. This book looks at SOEs in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, and Viet Nam, which together present a panoramic view of SOEs in the region. It also presents insights from the Republic of Korea on the evolving role of the public sector in various stages of development. It explores corporate governance challenges and how governments could reform SOEs to make them efficient drivers of the long-term productivity-induced growth essential to Asia's transition to high-income status.