Providing the first detailed treatment of state-owned multinational corporations, this book is based on a world-wide study consisting of in-depth interviews of top managers and government officials in a sample of thirty major multinational state-owned companies. Through extensive discussion and numerous examples, it identifies and describes some of the more significant cases and analyzes what countries state-owned multinationals originate from, what industries they are in, and where and how they operate abroad. Also analyzes the accusation of unfair competition which is often cast upon state-owned multinationals, and explains how and why some, but not all, state-owned companies become real multinationals.