Mass privatization is one form of changing the property rights regime of formerly publicly-owned means of production in the former peoples’ republics of Central and Eastern Europe. From an economic point of view, the central question at this transition is whether the change in property rights...

After the precipitated decline of the Soviet Empire and its satellite states, a system change seemed to be called for, and many countries embarked on social and political reforms focussing on property structures in the economy. This raised the issue of governance in the institutions that would...

Emphasising the scope for further growth in institutional investment, in Europe in particular, this paper focuses on the impact of institutional investment on the efficiency and stability of financial systems. The paper stresses the scope for efficiency gains arising from an increasing role of...

In this paper explores whether payout ratios of Chilean companies are explained by the extent of potential agency conflicts between controlling and minority share- holders. I use both panel data regression analysis and an event study to test different hypotheses related to the effect of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the operation of Islamic banks and the elements which determine their performance. Design/methodology/approach – In order to ensure the respect of Shari’a, religious committee of monitoring exists within the Islamic bank to take care of the...

This article investigates the determinants of boards’ financial expertise using a sample of 95 non-financial French listed firms.

Using a unique dataset of 730 joint-stock companies, we studied the determinants of corporate board composition in Russia. Despite the widespread image of insider control in the 1990s, a large number of Russian companies now actively appoint outsider directors to monitor top management. The...

In Russia, an overwhelming number of joint-stock companies (JSCs) choose to become closed companies despite the fact that this corporate form strays far from the primary nature of stock companies. Using the results of a Japan-Russia joint enterprise survey conducted in 2005, we examine a variety...