State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are legally private entities used in many jurisdictions to satisfy public needs, mostly through extensive consumption of public funds. While the nature of purposes pursued and of resources employed affects their accountability in a public sense, their financial...

In the last decade, Italian local Governments have made a massive use of limited companies to produce and to distribute public services, such as transportations, water maintainance, IT and the like. The public nature of the goals they are required to achieve and the public nature of the funds...

The last decade is replete with example of State Owned Corporations that, even if lacking any ability to continue as a going concern have obtained wide credit by both suppliers and banks. The habit of last year was that at the end of the day the public administration owning the company was...

Italian State-Owned Companies often present a public-style accountability, nonetheless, in most cases, they just have to comply with private sector reporting requirements. This significantly impairs the effectiveness of their reporting system and limits the control ability of the relevant public...

A recent research of the Italian Corte dei Conti has shown as most local government owned companies are not a going concern on their own. They are often unable to reach the economic break even and their continuity depends on shareholders' ability to periodically pay in new fresh capital. But...