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State-Owned Multinationals pp 255–276Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

State-Owned Enterprises as Multinationals: Theory and Research Directions

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Abstract

State-owned multinational companies (SOMNCs) have had a persistent and increasing role in the global economy. Today, many SOMNCs are listed in stock markets, are monitored by private investors, and in several cases have minority instead of majority stakes held by domestic governments. In this chapter, we outline an agency-based theory of SOMNCs, identifying benefits and costs that arise from government ownership and sponsorship. We discuss how SOMNCs may suffer from principal-agent problems arising from conflicts between managers and governments as well as principal-principal conflicts between state and private actors investing in those firms. We then identify several research challenges and avenues that scholars can pursue when studying SOMNCs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    If we follow the definition of Ahroni (1986) and we conceptualize state-owned enterprises as firms in which the state has ownership or control and as enterprises that effectively produce and sell goods and services, then it is easy to see the recent rise of SOMNCs to the center stage of the world economy by tracking the role of these firms among the largest multinationals in the world.

  2. 2.

    Information from the Fortune Global 500 2016 page, available at http://beta.fortune.com/global500/list, accessed October 15, 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brandeis International Business School, Waltham, MA, USA

    Aldo Musacchio

  2. Insper Institute of Education and Research, São Paulo, Brazil

    Sergio G. Lazzarini

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  1. Aldo Musacchio
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Correspondence to Aldo Musacchio .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra

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Musacchio, A., Lazzarini, S.G. (2018). State-Owned Enterprises as Multinationals: Theory and Research Directions. In: Cuervo-Cazurra, A. (eds) State-Owned Multinationals. JIBS Special Collections. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51715-5_10

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