comprehensive literature review, we identify three typologies of market failures which could potentially require corrective actions through state ownership: i) market power generated by structural barriers to competition, ii) under provision in the presence of positive externalities or uncertainty, and iii) risks connected to large/irreversible negative externalities.

- **Competitive Sectors** : these are sectors in which it is economically viable for multiple firms to compete to provide a good or service. Inherent market features, such as cost structure or demand characteristics, make entry into these sectors largely unproblematic. Furthermore, firms in commercial sectors are typically engaged in the provision of goods or services the consumption of which is either rivalrous or excludable. Given the competitive nature of these markets and private sector firms’ ability to achieve economic efficiency without encountering significant market distortions, there is no strong economic rationale for SOE participation in them.

The BOS database excludes firms operating in sectors considered to provide public goods, which in some cases cannot be priced. In total, the data set excludes all 4-digit disaggregated sectors (classes) falling in the NACE Rev. 2 divisions of Public Administration & Defense, Education, Human Health & Social Work, and Activities of Extraterritorial Organizations; 2 disaggregated sectors in Finance & Insurance (pension funding and central banking), 8 disaggregated sectors within Arts, Entertainment & Recreation, and 6 within Other Services; a total of 52 out of 615. The exclusion is consistent with the harmonized definition of SOEs as entities that provide goods or services which can be traded at economically significant prices. Please refer to Dall’Olio et. al. (2022) for a more detailed discussion of the sector taxonomy.

# 3. Data

## 3.1 Bureau van Dijk (BvD) – ORBIS

Bureau van Dijk (BvD) provides two ways to access ORBIS data: the BvD-ORBIS online interface (Orbis.bvdinfo.com) and the BvD historic vintage files. The interface is the most straightforward way to access the data for each firm. By paying a subscription fee, a user can look up any company and if it exists, the interface will list all the information relevant to the search. For example, detailed information such as the list of shareholders and subsidiaries, sector of activity, balance sheets, and income statements among others can be viewed or downloaded online through ORBIS.

The platform is not designed for large volumes of data extraction because it puts a cap of 10,000 fields per export request. As a result, for data download requirements that exceed the cap limit, it is necessary to perform multiple downloads. Given the scope of the Global BOS database, the online download is also not a scalable option because the definition of SOEs requires both direct and indirect shareholding information and the interface lists only direct shareholders. To get the list of shareholders of the shareholders of a firm, the only option is to check each one of the first level shareholders and recover information manually.

Due to the challenges mentioned above, the best option for the construction of a large database such as the Global BOS database is to request access to the BvD historic vintage files, a copy of the entire raw 11