ABSTRACT
The departmentally-managed undertaking is the traditional type of public enterprise, both in developed and in underdeveloped countries. It has been used for railways, communications, ports and harbours, commercial and industrial monopolies of a revenue-raising character, and even for manufacturing industries. The Public Works Department in Jamaica provides a clear and not untypical example. This department, which undertakes a variety of constructional tasks, is compelled to adhere to civil service rules which, to say the least, are incompatible with commercial-type operation. The Indian Railways Department, for instance, has great achievements to its credit. Turkey provides as good, or as bad, an example as any. In fact, it is in some ways particularly apposite, as the Turkish Government, in 1938, deliberately chose, after lengthy consideration, to give ‘public corporation’ form to its five major state enterprises, the Sumerbank, the Etibank, the Agricultural Bank, the Maritime Bank, and the Office of Agricultural Management.
