No Derivative Shareholder Suits in Europe – A Model of Percentage Limits and Collusion
Abstract
We address one of the cardinal puzzles of European corporate law: the lack of derivate share-holder suits. We explain this phenomenon on the basis of percentage limits which require share-holders to hold a minimum amount of shares in order to bring a lawsuit. We show that, under this legal regime, managers will collude with large shareholders by means of settlements or bribes that impose a negative externality on small shareholders. Contrary to conventional agency models, we find that large shareholders do not monitor the management; as a consequence, there is no free riding opportunity for small shareholders.Download Info
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Paper provided by Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in its series Working Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods with number 2010_15.Length:
Date of creation: May 2010
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2010_15
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Related research
Keywords: Collusion; Derivative Shareholder Suits; Percentage Limits; Monitoring; Free Riding;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
- K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2010-09-03 (All new papers)
- NEP-BEC-2010-09-03 (Business Economics)
- NEP-EUR-2010-09-03 (Microeconomic European Issues)
- NEP-LAW-2010-09-03 (Law & Economics)
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