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...

This paper outlines the foundations of corporate governance. The discussion includes a review on the modern corporation, transaction costs theory, agency costs theory, legal investor protection, investor protection by corporate governance and its various mechanisms, as well as an overview of the...

This paper attempts to make of the standard incremental cash flow model (SICFM) a functional vehicle for coping with conflicts of interest. After outlining the model, residual rights to cash flows are linked to residual risks. Then, the underlying information sets to cash flows are brought to...

This paper sets forth another contribution to the long standing debate over cost of capital, firstly by introducing a multiplicative model that translates the inner structure of the weighted average cost of capital rate and, secondly, adjusting such rate for governance risk. The conventional...

In this paper, we set forth a scoreboard for dealing with those risks that arise from the governance of any organization. Firstly, we introduce the subject of governance risks and, secondly, we move on to a cardinal index that not only measures up governance performance but also provides with a...

In this study, we examine characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) used as a financing tool for companies from China in period 2004-2011. We offer the evidence that, similarly to evidence from studies on reverse mergers focusing on China, SPACs that focus on China are...

This paper studies how institutional characteristics of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are related to their post-merger survival. SPACs are unique financial firms that conduct the IPO with the solely purpose to use the proceeds to acquire another private company. Paper finds...

This paper analyses ownership and control structures of Dutch listed companies. Legislation effective since 1992 mandates all shareholders with holdings of 5 percent or more in Dutch companies to disclose their holdings. Our analysis shows that the average ownership stakes of the largest and the...

The present study sheds light on the comparative experiences of the two countries originating from differing legal systems and describes how their codes and practices affect the publicly listed firms' performance. It investigates the linkages between Research and Development (R&D) expenditures,...

This paper investigates the effect of the human capital of directors on the financial performance of Vietnamese-listed companies. The dynamic system generalised method of moments (system GMM) estimator is used to examine a panel data-set consisting of 315 firm-year observations over a four-year...