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Corporate governance in transition: Ten empirical findings on shareholder value and industrial relations in Germany

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  • Höpner, Martin

Abstract

Within the context of debates over national varieties of capitalism, this paper discusses the shareholder value orientation of the 40 largest listed German companies. Three dimensions of shareholder value are distinguished: the communicative dimension, the operative dimension and the dimension of managerial compensation. A shareholder value index compiling data on accounting, investor relations, variable top-management compensation and the implementation of profitability goals makes it possible to compare the shareholder orientations of the companies. The shareholder value phenomenon is explained first by the exposure to markets - the international product market, capital market pressures and the market for corporate control - and, secondly, by internal developments - changing management careers, increasing management compensation and reduced monitoring by banks and corporate networks - which cause external impulses to increase shareholder value to fall on fertile ground. Conflicts over shareholder orientation result in changing coalitions between shareholders, management, and employees. Shareholder value does not make companies opt out of central collective agreements or endanger the existence of employees' codetermination, but it does lead to more market-driven industrial relations.

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  • Höpner, Martin, 2001. "Corporate governance in transition: Ten empirical findings on shareholder value and industrial relations in Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:015
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    1. Anne Tempel & Peter Walgenbach, 2007. "Global Standardization of Organizational Forms and Management Practices? What New Institutionalism and the Business‐Systems Approach Can Learn from Each Other," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Gregory Jackson, 2005. "Stakeholders under Pressure: corporate governance and labour management in Germany and Japan," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 419-428, May.
    3. Lütz, Susanne, 2003. "Governance in der politischen Ökonomie," MPIfG Discussion Paper 03/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    4. Gregory Jackson, 2004. "Toward a Comparative Perspective on Corporate Governance and Labour Management," Discussion papers 04023, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Jürgens, Ulrich & Lippert, Inge, 2005. "Kommunikation und Wissen im Aufsichtsrat: Voraussetzungen und Kriterien guter Aufsichtsratsarbeit aus der Perspektive leitender Angestellter," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Knowledge, Production Systems and Work SP III 2005-301, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. Gregory Jackson & Martin Hopner & Antje Kurdelbusch, 2004. "Corporate Governance and Employees in Germany: Changing Linkages, Complementarities, and Tensions," Discussion papers 04008, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Weber, Anke, 2009. "An empirical analysis of the 2000 corporate tax reform in Germany: Effects on ownership and control in listed companies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 57-66, March.
    8. Chris Carr, 2005. "Are German, Japanese and Anglo‐Saxon Strategic Decision Styles Still Divergent in the Context of Globalization?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(6), pages 1155-1188, September.
    9. Howard Gospel & Andrew Pendleton, 2003. "Finance, Corporate Governance and the Management of Labour: A Conceptual and Comparative Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(3), pages 557-582, September.
    10. Gregory Jackson, 2004. "Contested Boundaries: Ambiguity and Creativity in the Evolution of German Codetermination," Discussion papers 04022, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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