From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpublic ownershipˌpublic ˈownership noun [uncountable] PEbusinesses, property etc in public ownership are owned by the government The Opposition intends to bring the industry back into public ownership.
Examples from the Corpus
public ownership• It can be regarded as private ownership at least as readily as it can public ownership.• In fact, the Globe favored public ownership but believed in fair play for the private interests.• In theory, both are as one in opposing water passing from public ownership and control.• The Government plans to sell 51 % initially, with 46 % staying in public ownership.• Without a significant amount of public ownership therefore, a liberal market system gives companies independence.• Beck was not proposing public ownership of the generating plants, but he did want the province to build the transmission lines.• The claim for nationalization was that public ownership would mean more commitment to those industries by the people who worked for them.• Debates over important issues, from nuclear weapons to public ownership, have been settled by manipulation rather than persuasion. 