The new public enterprise : a survey and research agenda

The paper reviews some research issues on a classic topic in public economics : the role of public enterprises. After more than two decades of privatizations, a rethinking of the scope, objectives, governance, finance and performance of public providers of services seems needed. First, recent literature on how to define the scope of public enterprises in a new environment will be surveyed and assessed, in order to shape an agenda for research on this topic. Second, the paper offers some evidence of the survival of public enterprises after the waves of privatizations, particularly in the EU. Third, a theoretical framework is proposed in order to define a new research agenda on public enterprises