We allow the preference of a political majority to determine boththe corporate governance structure and the division of profits betweenhuman and financial capital. In a democratic society where financialwealth is concentrated, a political majority may prefer to restraingovernance by dispersed...

The legal environment is one important determinant of corporate governance. However, within legal families, also cultural differences can explain the level of corporate governance to some extent. We analyze this relationship for the case of Switzerland. Swiss firms are mainly located in two...

The legal environment is one important determinant of corporate governance. However,  within  legal families,  also cultural  differences can explain the level of corporate governance to some extent. We analyze this relationship for the case of Switzerland.  Swiss firms  are mainly located...

In their 2008 paper, Dahya, Dimitrov, and McConnell find that corporate values are lower when a higher fraction of the firm’s board of directors is associated with the dominant shareholder, especially in countries with weak legal regimes. Our study presents a simple model that is consistent...

I analyze the allocation of the power to decide on hostile takeovers between directors and shareholders. My contribution is to show who actually has power in a takeover and what factors are at work to give such power. Although directors are traditionally considered to be in charge in deciding...

This study documents that manager-shareholder conflict plays an important role at the earliest stage of business formation. Using data on closely held start-up firms, we focus on the owner who has the greatest managerial responsibility in the firm. Controlling for the endogenous relation between...

A poor ethical culture has been considered one of the reasons for the emergence of many corporate governance scandals. In this paper, I investigate the link between two corporate governance mechanisms – the composition of the board of directors and ownership structure – and ethical culture...

We derive and develop a simple and intuitive model that shines fresh light on the relentless debate over whether corporate ownership converges to the Berle-Means modern corporation with high stock ownership dispersion. Our model takes into account the importance of both protective legal...