Jointly owned companies as instruments of local government: comparative evidence from the Swedish and Italian water sectors

Abstract

The combination of features from the public and private sectors in jointly owned companies imposes challenges to the governance and control mechanisms of these organisations, which have been criticised for lacking accountability. Where there is fragmented ownership, the interests of different owners need to be coordinated. The aim of this article is to consider how such companies can be governed in order to avoid this lack of accountability. The focus is on Swedish and Italian experience with joint public–private water supply companies in the local government area. The analysis draws on the literature on corporate governance in the public sector and shows that, even though contextual differences exist between the Swedish and Italian cases, there are also similarities in regard to the need to manage the conflicts of interests that surface due to fragmented ownership.