Home > Library > 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.
2017-11-19 08:37:00 Sunday ET

In 2000, a former law professor at Harvard proposed establishing the Financial Product Safety Commission in order to protect consumer rights in the provisio
2023-05-07 10:27:00 Sunday ET

William Easterly critiques several economic development policies and then indicates that bottom-up solutions often result in macro policy success in spite o
2019-07-27 17:37:00 Saturday ET

Capital gravitates toward key profitable mutual funds until the marginal asset return equilibrates near the core stock market benchmark. As Stanford finance
2023-08-21 12:25:00 Monday ET

Steven Shavell presents his economic analysis of law in terms of the economic outcomes of both legal doctrines and institutions. Steven Shavell (2004)
2019-01-29 10:33:00 Tuesday ET

Global trade transforms from labor cost arbitrage to high-skill knowledge work. In fact, multinational manufacturers have been trying to create global suppl
2017-09-19 05:34:00 Tuesday ET

Facebook, Twitter, and Google executives head before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain the scope of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential el