Rethinking on public enterprise: editorial introduction and some personal remarks on the research agenda

This editorial introduction of the Special Issue of the International Review of Applied Economics on ‘Public enterprises and quality of institutions: alternatives to privatisation’ suggests some topics for a research agenda, and discusses how the papers included in the Special Issue contribute to the literature. The topics discussed in the Special Issue include new models of public ownership in energy industries, new trends of re-municipalisation of local public services (energy and water), regulation and public ownership, particularly in water supply, empirical evidence on productivity of public firms in electricity generation when the quality of government is good, internationalisation of government owned corporations in the telecommunication industry, the social benefits of public monopoly versus unbundling in network industries, and the role of intrinsic public service motivation of employees in governmental organisations at large. Some of these research issues are still in their infancy and potentially are important ingredients of a wider debate aiming at reviving public enterprise economics.