This paper aims to analyze the relevance of the exercise of ownership rights on the management of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The author exploited a “natural experiment” observed in Uruguay. The author developed an empirical method that to compare the results of SOEs between two five-year presidential terms with de facto differences with regard to the exercise of ownership rights.
The author found evidence suggesting that the poor exercise of ownership rights has a negative impact on the results of SOEs.
The results of this study are based exclusively on the Uruguayan case and are limited to the comparison between two five-year terms.
A holding of SOEs that holds and exerts ownership rights emerges as a natural alternative to improve efficiency.
The exercise of ownership rights in SOEs has a significant impact on its performance indicators.
