Introduction

This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part aims at an analysis of the concept of public enterprise. It deals with the ‘public’ element of the concept and with the ‘enterprise’ element; and the crucial issue of synthesising the two. The part looks at taxonomic aspects relevant to the conceptual analysis, limiting itself to highlighting the particular problems or biases those certain categories of public enterprises in relation to a conceptual element. It discusses the question of operationalising the concept of public enterprise through a definition. The term public enterprise is employed in its generic sense and subsumes such terms as state enterprises, nationalised industries, parastatals, statutory boards and decentralised agencies, which we come across in the literature. The part suggests the conditions, as derived from the concept, under which the utility of public enterprise is likely to be at a maximum to the nation.