THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP

Background and Objective: This article aims to explore the life cycle of state ownership, especially with reference to state-owned enterprises. This is important for the reason that, despite calls from many quarters of the world that states should relinquish their ownership of SOEs as a result of t...

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Main Author: Adeyemi Adebayo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Gdańsk University of Technology 2023-06-01
Series:Research on Enterprise in Modern Economy Theory and Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.mostwiedzy.pl/reme/article/view/2991
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author Adeyemi Adebayo
author_facet Adeyemi Adebayo
author_sort Adeyemi Adebayo
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description Background and Objective: This article aims to explore the life cycle of state ownership, especially with reference to state-owned enterprises. This is important for the reason that, despite calls from many quarters of the world that states should relinquish their ownership of SOEs as a result of their numerous corporate governance problems, these enterprises still remain, as evidenced by the number of new and existing SOEs compared with those privatised and internationalised. Materials and methods: This article consolidates stand-alone elements of SOEs life cycle in the contemporary academic discourse on SOEs and makes recourse to experts’ and role-players’ insights to attempt to explain the life cycle of SOEs, from entry to exit. Results: In this context, this paper extends the theory of the corporate life cycle by illustrating that even though SOEs still remain despite calls for states to relinquish ownership, SOEs like private sector enterprises (PSEs) do exit. However, rather than outright winding up, as in the case of PSE exits, SOEs exit using different forms of strategies, including privatisation and more recently internationalisation. Practical implication: The life cycle of state ownership is important in modelling the problematic (corporate) governance of state enterprises and informing their theoretical life cycle. Conclusion and summary: The conventional wisdom, in line with contemporary academic discourse, is that the staying power displayed by SOEs is sustained by the assistance of their owning states, as SOEs are usually too important and big for states to fail. Although this conclusion appears correct, this paper further shows that in addition to states providing assistance to SOEs at the entry and development stages, once SOEs are established, they undergo a developmental stage in the form of restructuring, and that in contrast to what is believed in many quarters of the world, as sustained by the stand-alone prior research on the elements of the SOE life cycle in the academic discourse on SOEs, SOEs actually exit. It concludes by identifying a topical and important area for further research.
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spelling doaj.art-66ec25ad8e4c46a5b9a9da060638c5052023-07-20T05:19:47ZengGdańsk University of TechnologyResearch on Enterprise in Modern Economy Theory and Practice2084-64952023-06-0113610.19253/reme.2023.01.004THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIPAdeyemi Adebayo0University of South Africa, Department of Auditing, College of Accounting Sciences Background and Objective: This article aims to explore the life cycle of state ownership, especially with reference to state-owned enterprises. This is important for the reason that, despite calls from many quarters of the world that states should relinquish their ownership of SOEs as a result of their numerous corporate governance problems, these enterprises still remain, as evidenced by the number of new and existing SOEs compared with those privatised and internationalised. Materials and methods: This article consolidates stand-alone elements of SOEs life cycle in the contemporary academic discourse on SOEs and makes recourse to experts’ and role-players’ insights to attempt to explain the life cycle of SOEs, from entry to exit. Results: In this context, this paper extends the theory of the corporate life cycle by illustrating that even though SOEs still remain despite calls for states to relinquish ownership, SOEs like private sector enterprises (PSEs) do exit. However, rather than outright winding up, as in the case of PSE exits, SOEs exit using different forms of strategies, including privatisation and more recently internationalisation. Practical implication: The life cycle of state ownership is important in modelling the problematic (corporate) governance of state enterprises and informing their theoretical life cycle. Conclusion and summary: The conventional wisdom, in line with contemporary academic discourse, is that the staying power displayed by SOEs is sustained by the assistance of their owning states, as SOEs are usually too important and big for states to fail. Although this conclusion appears correct, this paper further shows that in addition to states providing assistance to SOEs at the entry and development stages, once SOEs are established, they undergo a developmental stage in the form of restructuring, and that in contrast to what is believed in many quarters of the world, as sustained by the stand-alone prior research on the elements of the SOE life cycle in the academic discourse on SOEs, SOEs actually exit. It concludes by identifying a topical and important area for further research. https://journal.mostwiedzy.pl/reme/article/view/2991internationalisationownershipprivatisationrestructuringstate-owned enterprises
spellingShingle Adeyemi Adebayo
THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
Research on Enterprise in Modern Economy Theory and Practice
internationalisation
ownership
privatisation
restructuring
state-owned enterprises
title THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
title_full THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
title_fullStr THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
title_full_unstemmed THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
title_short THE LIFE CYCLE OF STATE OWNERSHIP
title_sort life cycle of state ownership
topic internationalisation
ownership
privatisation
restructuring
state-owned enterprises
url https://journal.mostwiedzy.pl/reme/article/view/2991
work_keys_str_mv AT adeyemiadebayo thelifecycleofstateownership
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