Nationalization is the process by which government alters or terminates control or ownership of an private enterprise and transfers the assets or share capital to the state or to a state-controlled body. Nationalization, although similar to expropriation, differs from it in motive and degree. It is usually associated with the implementation of communist or socialist theories of government, and tends to be applied to major domestic industries whose control and policies influence social and political questions beyond the economic sphere. Compensation, if any, received by the original owners of the enterprise may be inadequate and unfair.