The chapter introduces State-owned entities (SOEs) and frames the reminder of the monograph. This chapter also provides the necessary definitions and carves out the monograph's sphere of applications to entities such as state-owned multinational enterprises, state-owned enterprises, national oil companies, sovereign wealth funds, export credit agencies and other types of entities that are State-owned. A short history of the State as an economic actor follows next then the focus turns to some of the traditional concerns associated with SOEs such as unfair competition, national security and resource security. The discussion then moves on to address the human rights dimension of State corporate ownership. Several case studies demonstrate concretely how SOEs become involved in human rights violations. The last section of this chapter provides an overview of human rights in international law, the most fundamental human rights instruments, a general introduction to the 'respect, protect and fulfil' framework, the nature of State's obligations to 'respect, protect and fulfil' human rights and the relationship between international law, human rights and State ownership.

This chapter lays out the cornerstones of polycentric governance in business and human rights, including the attribution and distribution of obligations and the attribution and distribution of responsibility. The chapter distinguishes primary norms relating to duty-bearing (obligations) from secondary norms (responsibility for business-related wrongdoing). The chapter contains a forward-looking proposal (de lege ferenda) to form the basis of the normative building blocks of a polycentric governance model for responsibility resulting from business-related wrongdoings.