Gauging the Sustainability of Corporatized State-Owned Enterprises (Soes) In Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose: In accordance with the Washington Consensus, most developing countries were forced to privatize state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Corporatization and partial privatization emerged as two alternative possibilities for any government in circumstances where full privatization was not practicable. Pakistan followed suit and began the partial privatization and corporatization of SOEs working in its economy. This research examines whether Pakistan's corporatization or partial privatization policies have improved the profitability of these state-owned enterprises. Design/Methodology/Approach: If so, what variables contributed to this improvement in profitability, as measured by Return on Assets and Earnings per Share. The paper used data from 1990 to 2015 of thirteen SOEs, largely from the energy sector, that have been corporatized by partial privatization through stock market or other mechanisms. Findings: Results exhibit that the primary criteria strongly related with increased performance of corporatized SOEs, according to our findings, are the appointment of non-government directors by companies and persistently positive Gross Domestic Product of the economy. On the other hand, debt commitments, ownership, and size of an SOE are all weak or insignificant variables in determining whether an SOE should be corporatized. Implications/Originality/Value: Due to their strategic significance, the energy industry should continue to be governed and regulated by the government, but with a greater percentage of non-nominated members on their boards of directors to maintain corporate governance.