Library

Home > Library > The cross-country evolution of corporate ownership and governance

The cross-country evolution of corporate ownership and governance

Author Andy Yeh Alpha

This research article provides our mathematical analysis of the gradual evolution of corporate ownership concentration around the world.

Description:

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 institutions and firm-specific asset arrangements. The main analytical result is that incumbent stock ownership concentration either persists or declines depending on the relative importance of these protective arrangements. Specifically, our model predicts: (a) high stock ownership dispersion in nations that impose legal limits on blockholders's clout to expropriate minority shareholder rights, and (b) high stock ownership concentration in nations that primarily rely on asset specificity as a form of investor protection. In this view, both the path-dependency and convergence theories complement each other in the broader context of corporate governance.

 

Our empirical analysis of international data suggests at least partial convergence toward the Berle-Means modern corporation with high stock ownership dispersion. It is thus plausible to infer the existence of path-dependent forces on corporate ownership concentration. Nevertheless, this result does not preclude the more dynamic form of functional convergence toward greater stock ownership dispersion through the general tendency of non-U.S. public firms to cross-list on the major U.S. stock exchanges. This trend introduces stringent disclosure and governance requirements to a wider set of multinational corporations. In essence, these empirical results suggest a case for the co-existence of the path-dependency and functional-convergence stories. These complementary stories arise as stable mates and represent some partial elements of truth in explaining the cross-country variation in corporate ownership and governance structures.

 

Blog+More

The U.S. further derisks and decouples from China.

Peter Prince

2023-05-31 03:15:40 Wednesday ET

The U.S. further derisks and decouples from China.

The U.S. further derisks and decouples from China.   Why does the U.S. seek to further economically decouple from China? In recent times, th

+See More

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018.

John Fourier

2018-06-01 07:30:00 Friday ET

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018.

The U.S. federal government debt has risen from less than 40% of total GDP about a decade ago to 78% as of May 2018. The Congressional Budget Office predict

+See More

Federal Reserve raises the interest rate again in mid-2018 in response to 2% inflation and wage growth.

John Fourier

2018-07-09 09:39:00 Monday ET

Federal Reserve raises the interest rate again in mid-2018 in response to 2% inflation and wage growth.

The Federal Reserve raises the interest rate again in mid-2018 in response to 2% inflation and wage growth. The current neutral interest rate hike neither b

+See More

Stock Synopsis: Pharmaceutical post-pandemic patent development cycle

John Fourier

2024-05-05 10:31:00 Sunday ET

Stock Synopsis: Pharmaceutical post-pandemic patent development cycle

Stock Synopsis: Pharmaceutical post-pandemic patent development cycle In terms of stock market valuation, the major pharmaceutical sector remains at its

+See More

Berkeley macro economist Brad DeLong sees no good reasons for an imminent economic recession with mass unemployment and even depression.

Laura Hermes

2019-11-21 11:34:00 Thursday ET

Berkeley macro economist Brad DeLong sees no good reasons for an imminent economic recession with mass unemployment and even depression.

Berkeley macro economist Brad DeLong sees no good reasons for an imminent economic recession with mass unemployment and even depression. The current U.S. ec

+See More

Lyft seeks to go public with a dual-class stock ownership structure that allows the co-founders to retain significant influence.

Amy Hamilton

2019-03-11 10:32:00 Monday ET

Lyft seeks to go public with a dual-class stock ownership structure that allows the co-founders to retain significant influence.

Lyft seeks to go public with a dual-class stock ownership structure that allows the co-founders to retain significant influence over the rideshare tech unic

+See More