As a country's attitude toward egalitarianism increases, which means a societal preference for the equal as opposed to hierarchical treatment of individuals, the ownership of the public corporations in the country becomes more concentrated. This finding is robust to a wide range of...

This paper investigates whether banks were able to create value for their shareholders after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and whether operational efficiency is related to shareholder value creation in informationally efficient stock markets. The impact of GFC on bank efficiency and...

Does the structure of corporate boards affect bondholder agency risk? Using mandatory board reforms, I show that firms that transition to independent boards experience economically significant reductions in payout, financing, and event risk covenants in their bond contracts. This effect is not...

We analyze the relation between capital structure, ownership structure, and corporate value for a sample of 1,216 firms from 15 European countries. Our results stress two different conflicts of interest and show the differential role played by the mechanisms of corporate control depending on the...

In the last dozen years, economists have produced a considerable body of research suggesting that the historical origin of a country’s laws is highly correlated with a broad range of its legal rules and regulations, as well as with economic outcomes. Much of this research has dealt with rules...

During the past decades, corporate law and corporate governance debates have generally been skeptical of elements of economic ‘Nationalism’ or ‘protectionism.’ Arguably, globalization and convergence in corporate governance have resulted in a reduction of protectionist policies. However,...

This paper surveys the academic literature on the governance of for-profit, publicly traded corporations. We first address corporate objectives. Specifically, we discuss how shareholder value maximization relates to alternative doctrines such as stakeholder capitalism, and why the alternatives...

The role of corporations in allocating resources has been of great importance in the debate about the manner in which enterprises should be governed to enhance economic growth. Corporate governance features seem to be central to the dynamics by which successful firms and economies improve their...

Purpose: Corporate governance in essence is designed to lead to economic growth. Nevertheless, despite placing great emphasis on promoting corporate governance practices over the years, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have so far achieved insignificant or no economic growth. This, however,...