Who’s the BOSs : Shedding New Light on Businesses of the State
Supporters of state presence in economic activities cite the potential for catalyzing growth in new sectors or ensuring the wider availability of goods or services for the public, particularly in response to crisis. However, firms owned by the stat...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099345008122223322/P1733290c23c720950a9e0033b2850c2acb http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37889 |
| Summary: | Supporters of state presence in
economic activities cite the potential for catalyzing growth
in new sectors or ensuring the wider availability of goods
or services for the public, particularly in response to
crisis. However, firms owned by the state are a potential
source of market distortions and crowding out of the private
sector through subsidies and preferential access to finance
and land. The risks are even higher when state-owned
enterprises (SOEs), a subset of businesses of the state,
have the dual role of market player and regulator by
controlling prices and licenses and raising barriers to
potential competitors. Before addressing the contributions
and difficulties generated by firms with state participation
regarding the functioning of markets, counting the full
extent of the state’s presence in the economy is critical.
The World Bank’s new global Businesses of the the State
database marks a big leap forward in gathering the necessary
information for analysis. Comprehensive mapping of state
ownership captures the extent of a state’s footprint and its
links across firms and markets. The BOS database is the
first systematic attempt to capture the decision of the
state to participate in firms across the corporate sector.
Seven new facts extracted from the World Bank’s new
Businesses of the State (BOS) Global Database Project show
the state’s footprint in commercial activities is bigger
than previously captured, and in unexpected places. |
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