THE PROVISION OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES THROUGH MIXED ENTERPRISES: THE ITALIAN CASE

ABSTRACT ** :  The rules regulating the creation of mixed enterprises companies (public-private companies) for the provision of local public services have been subjected, in Italy, to a rather complex evolution over time. The new rules introduced allow the creation of a mixed private public enterprise, with either public or private majority; in any case the private shareholder must be selected through a public tender procedure. The data seems to show that mixed enterprises have been used by municipalities as a tool that allows the exploitation of economies of scale and of scope, without necessarily losing control of the leadership and direction of the local utility. Better flexibility of mixed enterprises is also shown by the proportion of mixed enterprises acting outside the territory which is higher than the proportion of public enterprises similarly engaged. Moreover the presence of multi-service units is proportionally higher in mixed enterprises.     

THE GOVERNANCE OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: THE QUEBEC EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resumen al fin del artículo.
: Have public enterprises become obsolete policy instruments? Should they be privatized or can their governance be radically transformed so that they could still be used as policy instruments? The world around them has changed and forced governments to move. After a discussion on the arguments in favour of privatization, this article suggests an analysis of three cases in the Canadian province of Quebec. Considering the pressures linked to the liberalization of trade resulting from NAFTA, this article suggests that the governance of public enterprises can be transformed and adapted and that consequently, it is not useful or necessary to privatize them. There is in reality a lot of room in the public enterprise governance to reform them, room that has been neglected over the last decades.     

TRANSACTION COSTS AND EXPORT CHANNELS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES: THE CASE OF KOREA

This paper develops hypotheses concerning firm- and industry-specific factors determining the relative importance to manufacturing exporters of different export channels in relatively high transaction cost Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Data from a Korean SME survey demonstrate the validity of several hypotheses and reveal that most sample SMEs rate the external support for international marketing rather low. The paper offers recommendations for reforming such support.     

PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND PRIVATIZATION

During the past two decades, the Singapore economy has performed remarkably well. Its achievement has often been cited as an economic miracle for a 600-square kilometre city nation without resources except its three million inhabitants. Public enterprises have contributed much to this achievement. They have been so successful in competing with the private sector that there have been some criticisms against the dominance of government in business. Several major government companies have been privatized and listed on the local stock exchange. Preparations have been made for commercially viable statutory boards to become private enterprises. The government will play a catalytic and supportive role and refrain from local competition. Its new emphasis will be on internationalizing the economy through joint ventures in informational technology and telecommunication industries where the local private sector lacks the resources.