**2. Government Ownership and the Agency Theory**

According to agency theory, separation between owners (principals) and management (agents) raises a risk that owners' interests and management interests are not aligned, thus a conflict of interests arise, and agency costs become inevitable [18,19]. Such costs result from monitoring mechanisms employed to keep an eye on management and to rein in their self-interested actions. Corporate governance tools such as ownership structures can play a significant role in monitoring the opportunistic behavior of managers [20–23]. An ownership structure can be used to keep an eye on and exert more control over key corporate decisions. By doing so, the agency problem might be alleviated, and organizational activities might be directed toward the company's interests rather than those of a certain group [22–25]. This might eventually improve the performance of the business [24].

Different types of ownership include managerial, institutional, family, and government ownership; among these, government ownership has aims that are distinct from those of other groups. According to agency theory, government ownership may result in inefficient governance and reduced managerial incentives [17]. As a result, corporate performance could be less impressive than it would be for privately held businesses [26]. This is supported by the claim that the government's major ownership would divert funds away from the business. Instead of focusing on business objectives, such as wealth maximization, government ownership might direct resources toward achieving social and political goals, particularly if the government, through this investment, has social or political goals such as

lowering the unemployment rate, promoting certain industries, or supporting the ruling party [9]. Furthermore, regardless of the company's financial situation, government owners are more likely to keep surplus staff or hire political supporters [17]. These ineffective initiatives ultimately deprive minority shareholders of their resources and raise agency costs, which have an adverse effect on business performance [21].
