public enterprise

noun ECONOMICS

Definition

› [U] the economic system that is based upon the principle of companies being owned by the government and not by people and businesses: They have yet to come to terms with the idea that in a modern state there is a role for public enterprise.

› [C] a business that is owned by the government: Several public enterprises may be privatised.

→ Compare private enterprise

(Definition of public enterprise noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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