State-owned enterprises and crown companies in New Zealand

The reform in New Zealand of publicly owned trading activities, which were largely managed by departments, began in 1984 following a change of government and an economic crisis. International writings on management and the new institutional economics were heavily drawn on. This led to the conclusion that trading and potentially trading activities should be managed by corporate structures which as closely as possible replicate the market; hence the establishment of companies with a minimum of ownership-specific regulation. II also led to the setting of market-related performance targets, to the selection of directors for the irrelevant commercial skills rather than political connections, and to the making of government-required outputs the subject of specific contracts. There have been significant gains but also some lessons, such as the importance of keeping ownership and purchasing interests separate and the effect of the 'body language' of corporate structures especially in social service areas such as health and public housing. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.