Browsing by Author "Talosaga, Talosaga"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Can continuous disclosure improve the performance of State-Owned Enterprises?
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2011) Talosaga, Talosaga; Heatley, David; Howell, Bronwyn
In January 2010 the New Zealand Government introduced a continuous disclosure regime for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) modelled on the regime applying to publicly-listed companies (PLCs). The government sees continuous disclosure increasing the transparency of SOEs and that this will lead to improved financial performance by SOEs. We analyse the traditional rationales for continuous disclosure in PLCs and find that it is not axiomatic that a continuous disclosure regime designed for PLCs overlaid onto an SOE will offer the same incentives for performance improvement. The differences in owner identity and governance relationships in SOEs and the absence of a market for the trading of shares substantially weaken the performance improvement effect of the disclosure instrument in SOEs. In the absence of share trading it is not clear how a failure to disclose by SOE managers could be detected. Furthermore under the New Zealand arrangements the sanctions for SOE failure to disclose are very weak. This suggests that it is both easier for and more likely that SOE managers will withhold material information relative to their PLC counterparts. The hypothesis appears confirmed by a matched-pair comparison of disclosures by SOEs and private sector firms in the first year of the SOE continuous disclosure regime.
Open Access
New Zealand's Electricity Lines Companies: An Ownership Analysis
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2012) Talosaga, Talosaga; Howell, Bronwyn
New Zealand's 30 Electricity Lines Businesses (ELBs) combined hold assets with an estimated value of over $8.8 billion (Commerce Commission 2012). The vast majority of analysis of the New Zealand electricity sector has focused on generation retailing and transmission activities. Very little formal analysis of ELBs has been undertaken. This paper aims to redress this imbalance. We trace the history and catalogue the ownership structures of ELBs. Using Hansmann's (1996) theory of enterprise ownership we analyse the economic factors underpinning the evolution of the ownership forms of New Zealand's ELBs since reforms in the 1990s with particular emphasis on its ability to explain ownership differences observed between ELBs serving urban and rural constituencies. We find that despite the reforms' bias towards private ownership co-operative and trust structures predominate in rural New Zealand. However privately-owned ELBs are much more likely to be serving urban communities. We suggest that this is likely a consequence of the smaller size of and greater homogeneity of interests amongst the communities served by rural ELBs.
Open Access
New Zealand's Electricity Lines Companies: An Ownership Analysis
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2012) Talosaga, Talosaga; Howell, Bronwyn