What is a State-Owned or Public Enterprise?

There are many possible definitions of what a state-owned enterprise (SOE) or public enterprise (PE) is. We define PEs as government-owned or government-controlled economic objects that generate the bulk of their revenues from selling goods or services.

These include enterprises established to provide commercial activities in which government controls management due to its ownership stake.

The definition includes enterprises directly controlled by government or in which government holds a majority of the shares directly or indirectly through other federal entities.