López Azumendi, SebastiánAndrés, Luis AlbertoGuasch, José Luis2012-03-192012-03-192011-08-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3508This paper studies the governance structure of state-owned enterprises in the water and electricity sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean. Through a unique dataset, the paper compares 44 leading state companies of the region based on an aggregate measure of corporate governance and six salient aspects of their design: board, chief executive officer, performance orientation, management, legal framework, and transparency/disclosure. The results indicate the need for improvement in areas such as the selection and appointment of directors to the board and the performance-orientation of the enterprises. The paper also highlights the importance of discussing the management of state-owned enterprises in the wider context of public sector governance, with particular focus on accountability. Moreover, it recognizes the role of accountability as central in the management of state-owned enterprises, recommending a better understanding of regulation and performance management. The paper finds a positive correlation between corporate governance and the utilities' performance. Among the different aspects of corporate governance, performance orientation and professional management seem to be the highest contributors to well-performing state-owned enterprises. State-owned enterprises in the electricity sector show higher governance levels than those in the water sector.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMSACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING STANDARDSAGENCY COSTSAUDITINGAUDITORSAUTHORITYAUTONOMYBOARD MEMBERSBUREAUCRACYBUSINESS CORPORATIONCEOCEOSCHIEF EXECUTIVECITIZENSCIVIL SERVICECIVIL SOCIETYCOLLUSIONCOMMERCIAL LAWCOMPANYCOMPETITIVE BEHAVIORCONCESSION AGREEMENTCONSOLIDATIONCONSTITUENCYCONVENTIONAL WISDOMCORPORATE GOVERNANCECORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODECORPORATE LAWCORPORATE STRATEGIESCORPORATE STRUCTURECORPORATIONSCORPORATIZATIONCORRUPTIONCRITICAL IMPORTANCECUSTOMER SERVICESDEBTDECENTRALIZATIONDECISION MAKINGDECISION MAKING POWERDECISION-MAKINGDECISION-MAKING BODYDELIVERY OF SERVICESDISCLOSUREECONOMIC REGULATIONEMERGING MARKETSENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTENTERPRISE REFORMENTERPRISE RESTRUCTURINGEXPANSIONEXPANSION OF SERVICEEXTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITYFINANCIAL DISCLOSUREFINANCIAL INFORMATIONFINANCIAL PERFORMANCEFINANCIAL TRANSPARENCYGOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTSGOVERNANCE DIMENSIONSGOVERNANCE EFFECTIVENESSGOVERNANCE INDICATORSGOVERNANCE STRATEGIESGOVERNMENT AGENCYGOVERNMENT AUTHORITIESGOVERNMENT COMPANIESGOVERNMENT CORPORATIONSGOVERNMENT ENTITIESGROUP OF COMPANIESGROWTH RATESHOLDING COMPANYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESINCOMEINCOME LEVELSINCORPORATEDINDEPENDENT AUDITINDEPENDENT DIRECTORSINDUSTRIAL TARIFFSINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE PRIVATIZATIONINSOLVENCYINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTINSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDERSINSTITUTIONAL SYSTEMSINTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLACK OF ACCOUNTABILITYLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGAL REQUIREMENTSLIMITEDLIMITED LIABILITYLISTING OF COMPANIESMANAGERSMANUFACTURERSMUNICIPALITYNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONNATIONSOPERATIONAL PERFORMANCEOWNERSHIP STRUCTUREPARLIAMENTPARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHTPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPERSONSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL INFLUENCEPOLITICIANSPRESIDENCYPRIVATE COMPANIESPRIVATE COMPANYPRIVATE ENTERPRISEPRIVATE ENTERPRISESPRIVATE FIRMPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE INVESTORSPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATIONPRIVATE UTILITIESPROFITABILITYPROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTUREPROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICESPROVISION OF SERVICESPROXYPUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITYPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC COMPANIESPUBLIC CORPORATIONPUBLIC ENTERPRISESPUBLIC FINANCINGPUBLIC HEARINGSPUBLIC MANAGEMENTPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCEPUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENTPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC UTILITIESPUBLIC WATERPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSQUALITY OF SERVICEREGULATORY AGENCIESREGULATORY AGENCYREGULATORY AUTHORITIESREGULATORY AUTHORITYREGULATORY BODIESREGULATORY POLICIESREPRESENTATIVESRESIDENTIAL TARIFFSSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSHAREHOLDERSHAREHOLDERSSKILLED WORKERSSMALL COMPANIESSMALLER COMPANIESSOCIETYSTAKEHOLDERSSTATE ACTIONSTATE ENTERPRISESTATE ENTERPRISESSTATE OWNED ENTERPRISESSTATE OWNERSHIPSTATE SECTORSTATE SUBSIDIESSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESSTOCK EXCHANGESTOCK MARKETSTOCK MARKETSSUBSIDIARIESTARIFF INCREASESTAX OBLIGATIONTAX OBLIGATIONSTAX REGIMETRADE UNIONSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPARENT DISCLOSUREUNDUE INFLUENCEUNIONSVESTED INTERESTSVETOVOTINGWAGESWATER COMPANIESWATER COVERAGEWATER SECTORWATER SUPPLYWATER TARIFFSWATER UTILITIESWorld Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5747