This book deals with an increasingly important topic. As governments are expected to provide their citizens with more services at less cost, the traditional vehicles of public sector agencies and companies prove to be too expensive. New forms of providing public services are needed. The study explains the basis for public ownership and how public ownership forms have changed over time to accommodate requirements of efficiency in economic and social environments that have become more complex. The book examines experiences in specific sectors and the form of management of public companies that have emerged, with a particular focus on the energy and communications sectors where government ownership has traditionally dominated.