What is State-owned enterprise?
A '''state-owned enterprise''' ('''SOE''') is a government owned organisation which is started or [[Nationalization|nationalised]] by a [[government]]. This may be to * earn [[profit]] for the government, * control a [[monopoly]], * provide products and services to citizens at a lower price, * implement government [[Policy|policies]], * deliver products & services to the remote parts of the country. The national or provincial government has majority [[ownership]] over these state owned enterprises. They are also known as '''public sector undertakings''' in some countries.<ref>{{cite web|title=State-Owned Enterprises Catalysts for public value creation?|url=https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/psrc/publications/assets/pwc-state-owned-enterprise-psrc.pdf|website=PwC|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref> They have distinct legal forms. The government defines what they should do. (e.g., a state [[railway company]] may aim to make transportation more accessible and earn profit for the government).<ref>Profiles of Existing Government Corporations, pp. 1–16</ref> They are common with [[Natural monopoly|natural monopolies]]. In both [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Western Europe]], there was a massive [[nationalization]] throughout the 20th century, especially after [[World War II]]. In the [[Eastern Bloc]], countries adopted very similar policies and models to the [[Soviet Union|USSR]]. Governments in Western Europe saw state intervention as necessary to rebuild economies shattered by war.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date= 4 January 2014|title= All Men Are Created Unequal |quotation=Quote: «The wars and depressions between 1914 and 1950 dragged the wealthy back to earth. Wars brought physical destruction of capital, nationalisation, taxation and inflation» |url= https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21592635-revisiting-old-argument-about-impact-capitalism-all-men-are-created |access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> Government control over [[natural monopoly|natural monopolies]] was common. Typica