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Economic and Systemic Explanations of Ownership Concentration among Europe's Largest Companies

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Author Info
Torben Pedersen, Steen Thomsen
Abstract

The paper examines causes and effects of ownership concentration among the largest companies in 12 European countries. As a reference point the paper takes a seminal empirical study on US data and examines to what extent the model is applicable in European countries. The findings indicate that both general economic effects and system effects are significant. Ownership concentration is found to decrease with firm size and to increase with earnings volatility. But in support of the system theories advocated nationality is also found to have a significant effect which is partly attributable to institutional differences between nations such as stock market size and the frequency of large banks. Finally ownership concentration is found to have an insignificant effect on accounting profitability (return on equity)

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Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal International Journal of the Economics of Business.

Volume (Year): 6 (1999)
Issue (Month): 3 (November)
Pages: 367-381
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Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:6:y:1999:i:3:p:367-381

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Related research
Keywords: European Ownership Concentration; Corporate Governance;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
    • Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silane & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1996. "Law and Finance," NBER Working Papers 5661, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    • Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Jos Gerson & Graham Barr, 1996. "The Structure of Corporate Control and Ownership in a Regulatory Environment Unbiased toward One-Share-One-Vote," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 4(2), pages 78-97, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Demsetz, Harold, 1983. "The Structure of Ownership and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 375-90, June.
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  11. Mayer, Colin, 1997. "The City and Corporate Performance: Condemned or Exonerated?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 291-302, March.
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  15. Cho, Myeong-Hyeon, 1998. "Ownership structure, investment, and the corporate value: an empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 103-121, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Bergstrom, Clas & Rydqvist, Kristian, 1990. "The determinants of corporate ownership : An empirical study on Swedish data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2-3), pages 237-253, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Lloyd, William P. & Modani, Naval K. & Hand, John H., 1987. "The effect of the degree of ownership control on firm diversification, market value, and merger activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 303-312, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Nickell, Stephen & Nicolitsas, Daphne & Dryden, Neil, 1997. "What makes firms perform well?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 783-796, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  22. Leech, Dennis & Leahy, John, 1991. "Ownership Structure, Control Type Classifications and the Performance of Large British Companies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(409), pages 1418-37, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Richard J. Zeckhauser & John Pound, 1990. "Are Large Shareholders Effective Monitors? An Investigation of Share Ownership and Corporate Performance," NBER Chapters, in: Asymmetric Information, Corporate Finance, and Investment, pages 149-180 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  1. Pedersen, Torben & Thomsen, Steen & Kvist, Hans Kurt, 2001. "The Direction of Causality Between Blockholder Ownership and Firm Value: US and EU Evidence," Working Papers 16-2001, Copenhagen Business School, Department of International Economics and Management. [Downloadable!]
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