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

AYA fintech finbuzz illustrative video tutorials on YouTube

Amy Hamilton

2019-05-05 10:46:10 Sunday ET

AYA fintech finbuzz illustrative video tutorials on YouTube

This video collection shows the major features of our AYA fintech network platform for stock market investors: (1) AYA stock market content curation;&nbs

+See More

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fundamental analysis of Amazon (U.S. stock symbol: $AMZN).

Dan Rochefort

2025-09-14 14:23:00 Sunday ET

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fundamental analysis of Amazon (U.S. stock symbol: $AMZN).

Stock Synopsis: With a new Python program, we use, adapt, apply, and leverage each of the mainstream Gemini Gen AI models to conduct this comprehensive fund

+See More

The Trump administration still expects to reach a Sino-U.S. trade agreement with better intellectual property protection and enforcement.

Apple Boston

2019-05-11 10:28:00 Saturday ET

The Trump administration still expects to reach a Sino-U.S. trade agreement with better intellectual property protection and enforcement.

The Trump administration still expects to reach a Sino-U.S. trade agreement with a better mechanism for intellectual property protection and enforcement. Pr

+See More

Most business organizations should continue to create new value in order to achieve long-run success and sustainable profitability.

Peter Prince

2020-09-10 08:31:00 Thursday ET

Most business organizations should continue to create new value in order to achieve long-run success and sustainable profitability.

Most business organizations should continue to create new value in order to achieve long-run success and sustainable profitability. Todd Zenger (2016)

+See More

Strategic managers envision lofty purposes to enjoy incremental consistent progress over time.

Jonah Whanau

2020-10-06 09:31:00 Tuesday ET

Strategic managers envision lofty purposes to enjoy incremental consistent progress over time.

Strategic managers envision lofty purposes to enjoy incremental consistent progress over time. Allison Rimm (2015)   The joy of strategy: a bu

+See More

Eric Posner and Glen Weyl propose radical reforms to resolve key market design problems for better democracy and globalization.

Chanel Holden

2023-02-14 09:31:00 Tuesday ET

Eric Posner and Glen Weyl propose radical reforms to resolve key market design problems for better democracy and globalization.

Eric Posner and Glen Weyl propose radical reforms to resolve key market design problems for better democracy and globalization. Eric Posner and Glen Weyl

+See More