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Corporate Governance in Germany: An Economic Perspective

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  • Schmidt, Reinhard H.

Abstract

A financial system can only perform its function of channelling funds from savers to investors if it offers sufficient assurance to the providers of the funds that they will reap the rewards which have been promised to them. To the extent that this assurance is not provided by contracts alone, potential financiers will want to monitor and influence managerial decisions. This is why corporate governance is an essential part of any financial system. It is almost obvious that providers of equity have a genuine interest in the functioning of corporate governance. However, corporate governance encompasses more than investor protection. Similar considerations also apply to other stakeholders who invest their resources in a firm and whose expectations of later receiving an appropriate return on their investment also depend on decisions at the level of the individual firm which would be extremely difficult to anticipate and prescribe in a set of complete contingent contracts. Lenders, especially long-term lenders, are one such group of stakeholders who may also want to play a role in corporate governance; employees, especially those with high skill levels and firm-specific knowledge, are another. The German corporate governance system is different from that of the Anglo-Saxon countries because it foresees the possibility, and even the necessity, to integrate lenders and employees in the governance of large corporations. The German corporate governance system is generally regarded as the standard example of an insider-controlled and stakeholder-oriented system. Moreover, only a few years ago it was a consistent system in the sense of being composed of complementary elements which fit together well. The first objective of this paper is to show why and in which respect these characterisations were once appropriate. However, the past decade has seen a wave of developments in the German corporate governance system, which make it worthwhile and indeed necessary to investigate whether German corporate governance has recently changed in a fundamental way. More specifically one can ask which elements and features of German corporate governance have in fact changed, why they have changed and whether those changes which did occur constitute a structural change which would have converted the old insider-controlled system into an outsider-controlled and shareholder-oriented system and/or would have deprived it of its former consistency. It is the second purpose of this paper to answer these questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Schmidt, Reinhard H., 2003. "Corporate Governance in Germany: An Economic Perspective," CFS Working Paper Series 2003/36, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cfswop:200336
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    Cited by:

    1. Chilosi, Alberto & Damiani, Mirella, 2007. "Stakeholders vs. shareholders in corporate governance," MPRA Paper 2334, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Goergen, Marc & Manjon, Miguel C. & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "Recent developments in German corporate governance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 175-193, September.
    3. Mirella Damiani & Fabrizio Pompei, 2011. "The market for corporate control: do countries and technological regimes matter?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 725-751, October.
    4. Waśniewski, Krzysztof, 2010. "Emergence of alternative capital markets in developing countries as a process of institutional change," MPRA Paper 26681, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Igor Goncharov & Joerg Richard Werner & Jochen Zimmermann, 2006. "Does Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code Have an Impact on Stock Valuation? An empirical analysis," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 432-445, September.
    6. Rahman, Asheq & Yammeesri, Jira & Perera, Hector, 2010. "Financial reporting quality in international settings: A comparative study of the USA, Japan, Thailand, France and Germany," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 1-34, March.
    7. Panagiotis Staikouras & Christos Staikouras & Maria-Eleni Agoraki, 2007. "The effect of board size and composition on European bank performance," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-27, February.
    8. Kichelmann, Christoph, 2004. "Bedeutung des Patentschutzes für die Basler Industrie gestern und heute," Working papers 2004/03, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    9. Steven M. Mintz, 2005. "Corporate Governance in an International Context: legal systems, financing patterns and cultural variables," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 582-597, September.
    10. Ojo, Marianne, 2010. "Risk monitoring tools in bank regulation and supervision – developments since the collapse of Barings Plc," MPRA Paper 22125, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Marc Goergen & Miguel Manjon & Luc Renneboog, 2008. "Is the German system of corporate governance converging towards the Anglo-American model?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 12(1), pages 37-71, March.
    12. Zimmermann, Jochen & Volmer, Philipp & Werner, Jörg, 2006. "New governance modes for Germany's financial reporting system," TranState Working Papers 34, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    13. Damiani, Mirella & Pompei, Fabrizio, 2008. "Mergers, acquisitions and technological regimes: the European experience over the period 2002- 2005," MPRA Paper 8226, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; financial systems; complementarity; stakeholders; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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