A public corporation is a corporation chartered for a public purpose. It is not the same thing as a publicly traded company sometimes known as a
public company. In the
United States examples of public corporations are
Amtrak and the
United States Postal Service. Generally speaking a public corporation is created by a
statute passed by a legislature which specifically empowers the corporation to undertake a specific public purpose. In
Commonwealth countries the name given to public corporations is usually
Crown corporation. The notable exception is the
State-Owned Enterprise[?] in
New Zealand. Examples of Crown corporations include the
CBC in
Canada and
Air Canada before it was privatized. In
Japan,
Japan Post is a public corporation.
JR,
NTT and
Japan Tobacco[?] were created after they were privatized.
See also stock exchange, stock market, public company.