Recent research has documented large differences between countries in ownership concentration in publicly traded firms, in the breadth and depth of capital markets, in dividend policies, and in the access of firms to external finance. We suggest that there is a common element to the explanations of these differences, namely how well investors, both shareholders and creditors, are protected by law from expropriation by the managers and controlling shareholders of firms. We describe the differences in laws and the effectiveness of their enforcement across countries, discuss the possible origins of these differences, summarize their consequences, and assess potential strategies of corporate governance reform. We argue that the legal approach is a more fruitful way to understand corporate governance and its reform than the conventional distinction between bank-centered and market-centered financial systems.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
7428.
Length: Date of creation: Dec 1999 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7428
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Find related papers by JEL classification: G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
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Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997.
" A Survey of Corporate Governance,"
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American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-83, June.
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Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999.
"Corporate Ownership Around the World,"
Journal of Finance,
American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, 04.
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Cited by: (explanations, 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.)
Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-deSilanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1999.
"Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation,"
NBER Working Papers
7403, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Rafael La porta & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002.
"Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation,"
Journal of Finance,
American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, 06.
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