Do State-owned Enterprises Underperform Compared to Privately owned Companies? An Examination of the Largest Polish Enterprises

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to compare financial performance of the largest non-financial state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately owned enterprises in the years 2013–2015. We performed a univariate as well as discriminant analysis using various indicators assessing profitability, financial liquidity, and financial operational efficiency. When observing several aspects of financial performance, it is difficult to state whether SOEs underperform. Compared to privately owned enterprises, state companies achieve higher returns on assets. However, they underperform in terms of fixed capital employed, inventory management and have less financial liquidity.