Roger M. Barker
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199576814
- eISBN:
- 9780191722509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576814.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Corporate Governance and Accountability
The proposed hypothesis of European corporate governance change is contrasted with existing explanations of corporate governance from a range of academic disciplines. It is argued that, although the ...
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The proposed hypothesis of European corporate governance change is contrasted with existing explanations of corporate governance from a range of academic disciplines. It is argued that, although the hypothesis advanced in the book is based on the rational behavior of social actors, it is not assumed that corporate governance outcomes will necessarily converge on the most “efficient” outcome (e.g., in terms of minimizing the cost of capital for the firm). Nor is it assumed that there is a necessary equality between de jure and de facto corporate governance outcomes (as argued by many legal scholars).Less
The proposed hypothesis of European corporate governance change is contrasted with existing explanations of corporate governance from a range of academic disciplines. It is argued that, although the hypothesis advanced in the book is based on the rational behavior of social actors, it is not assumed that corporate governance outcomes will necessarily converge on the most “efficient” outcome (e.g., in terms of minimizing the cost of capital for the firm). Nor is it assumed that there is a necessary equality between de jure and de facto corporate governance outcomes (as argued by many legal scholars).
BERNARDO BORTOLOTTI DOMENICO SINISCALCO
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199249343
- eISBN:
- 9780191600845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249342.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter studies the economic, political, and institutional determinants of privatization. The analysis begins with a discussion of the link between privatization and economic development, then ...
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This chapter studies the economic, political, and institutional determinants of privatization. The analysis begins with a discussion of the link between privatization and economic development, then it studies the role of government’s budget constraints, showing how public finance conditions may bear on the decision to privatize. The chapter then focuses on the role of financial markets and governments’ political orientation in triggering divestiture. Finally, it takes into account institutional aspects, such as a country’s legal tradition, and political regimes. The various hypotheses are discussed sequentially. Their empirical validity, however, is assessed through an original panel data econometric analysis.Less
This chapter studies the economic, political, and institutional determinants of privatization. The analysis begins with a discussion of the link between privatization and economic development, then it studies the role of government’s budget constraints, showing how public finance conditions may bear on the decision to privatize. The chapter then focuses on the role of financial markets and governments’ political orientation in triggering divestiture. Finally, it takes into account institutional aspects, such as a country’s legal tradition, and political regimes. The various hypotheses are discussed sequentially. Their empirical validity, however, is assessed through an original panel data econometric analysis.
Debin Ma and Jan Luiten van Zanden (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804772730
- eISBN:
- 9780804777612
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804772730.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Recently, a growing body of work on “law and finance” and “legal origins” has highlighted the role of formal legal institutions in shaping financial institutions. However, these writings have focused ...
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Recently, a growing body of work on “law and finance” and “legal origins” has highlighted the role of formal legal institutions in shaping financial institutions. However, these writings have focused largely on Europe, neglecting important non-Western traditions that prevail in a large part of the world. This book brings together a group of leading scholars from economics, economic history, law, and area studies to develop a unique, global and, long-term perspective on the linkage between law and economic change. Covering the regions of Western Europe, East and South Asia, and the Middle East, the chapters explore major themes regarding the nature and evolution of different legal regimes; their relationship with the state or organized religion; the definition and interpretation of ownership and property rights; the functioning of courts, and other mechanisms for dispute resolution and contract enforcement; and the complex dynamics of legal transplantations through processes such as colonization. The text makes clear that the development of legal traditions and institutions—as embodiments of cultural values and norms—exerts a strong effect on long-term economic change. And it demonstrates that a good understanding of legal origins around the world enriches any debate about Great Divergence in the early modern era, as well as development and underdevelopment in 19th–20th-century Eurasia.Less
Recently, a growing body of work on “law and finance” and “legal origins” has highlighted the role of formal legal institutions in shaping financial institutions. However, these writings have focused largely on Europe, neglecting important non-Western traditions that prevail in a large part of the world. This book brings together a group of leading scholars from economics, economic history, law, and area studies to develop a unique, global and, long-term perspective on the linkage between law and economic change. Covering the regions of Western Europe, East and South Asia, and the Middle East, the chapters explore major themes regarding the nature and evolution of different legal regimes; their relationship with the state or organized religion; the definition and interpretation of ownership and property rights; the functioning of courts, and other mechanisms for dispute resolution and contract enforcement; and the complex dynamics of legal transplantations through processes such as colonization. The text makes clear that the development of legal traditions and institutions—as embodiments of cultural values and norms—exerts a strong effect on long-term economic change. And it demonstrates that a good understanding of legal origins around the world enriches any debate about Great Divergence in the early modern era, as well as development and underdevelopment in 19th–20th-century Eurasia.
STEPHEN P. FERRIS and SABHERWAL SANJIV
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199754656
- eISBN:
- 9780199979462
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754656.003.0023
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics, International
The payment of dividends by firms remains a quandary for finance scholars because of tax implications for value and the near substitutability of repurchases. A review of the literature on ...
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The payment of dividends by firms remains a quandary for finance scholars because of tax implications for value and the near substitutability of repurchases. A review of the literature on international dividend policy does not suggest an answer to this paradox, but it does provide evidence that supports several important conclusions. First, the evidence fails to support a dominant explanation for why firms pay dividends. Rather, the existing empirical work suggests that there are elements of numerous theories present in the global payment of dividends. Second, the literature shows that what are often presented as stylized facts about dividends are really U.S. results and fail to hold for other countries. Finally, the literature reveals the importance of factors beyond the economic and financial on the design of corporate dividend policies. Increasingly, the empirical evidence shows that cultural, legal, and behavioral factors exert important influences on managerial decisions about dividends.Less
The payment of dividends by firms remains a quandary for finance scholars because of tax implications for value and the near substitutability of repurchases. A review of the literature on international dividend policy does not suggest an answer to this paradox, but it does provide evidence that supports several important conclusions. First, the evidence fails to support a dominant explanation for why firms pay dividends. Rather, the existing empirical work suggests that there are elements of numerous theories present in the global payment of dividends. Second, the literature shows that what are often presented as stylized facts about dividends are really U.S. results and fail to hold for other countries. Finally, the literature reveals the importance of factors beyond the economic and financial on the design of corporate dividend policies. Increasingly, the empirical evidence shows that cultural, legal, and behavioral factors exert important influences on managerial decisions about dividends.
Kevin E. Davis and Mariana Mota Prado
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199671656
- eISBN:
- 9780191751127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671656.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
What is the relationship between law and development in the post-colonial era? Are particular types of legal institutions associated with particular modes of economic organization or trajectories of ...
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What is the relationship between law and development in the post-colonial era? Are particular types of legal institutions associated with particular modes of economic organization or trajectories of economic development? Is the relationship between law and development causal, in the sense that specific legal reforms cause specific development outcomes? Not of merely academic interest, these questions have major implications for policy-makers. This chapter traces the history of ideas about these topics, from Max Weber and his successors to proponents of the “right to development.” It identifies key limitations in the intellectual frameworks that have been dominant through the turn of the twenty-first century. Those limitations include: failure to draw upon the experience of countries in the global South; misplaced reliance upon problematic conceptual dichotomies—legal/non-legal, public/private, common law/civil law, and domestic/international; and failure to acknowledge the complexity and mutability of legal institutions. We conclude by examining emerging approaches that promise to overcome some of these limitations.Less
What is the relationship between law and development in the post-colonial era? Are particular types of legal institutions associated with particular modes of economic organization or trajectories of economic development? Is the relationship between law and development causal, in the sense that specific legal reforms cause specific development outcomes? Not of merely academic interest, these questions have major implications for policy-makers. This chapter traces the history of ideas about these topics, from Max Weber and his successors to proponents of the “right to development.” It identifies key limitations in the intellectual frameworks that have been dominant through the turn of the twenty-first century. Those limitations include: failure to draw upon the experience of countries in the global South; misplaced reliance upon problematic conceptual dichotomies—legal/non-legal, public/private, common law/civil law, and domestic/international; and failure to acknowledge the complexity and mutability of legal institutions. We conclude by examining emerging approaches that promise to overcome some of these limitations.
Christopher M. Bruner
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190466879
- eISBN:
- 9780190466909
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190466879.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law, Comparative Law
A number of literatures have addressed the role of small jurisdictions in cross-border finance, or spoken generally to the market terrain they inhabit. This chapter discusses a number of theoretical ...
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A number of literatures have addressed the role of small jurisdictions in cross-border finance, or spoken generally to the market terrain they inhabit. This chapter discusses a number of theoretical frameworks, evaluating their capacity to account for the range of small jurisdictions achieving market dominance in cross-border finance. It begins with the globalization literature and then turns to various characterizations applied to small jurisdictions, including tax havens, offshore financial centers, microstates, and global cities. Finally, the chapter assesses the English legal origins of many such jurisdictions. Bruner concludes that none of these theoretical frameworks can accommodate the range of salient features exhibited by those small jurisdictions achieving global dominance in cross-border finance. Each, however, offers important insights contributing to the alternative framework developed in this book.Less
A number of literatures have addressed the role of small jurisdictions in cross-border finance, or spoken generally to the market terrain they inhabit. This chapter discusses a number of theoretical frameworks, evaluating their capacity to account for the range of small jurisdictions achieving market dominance in cross-border finance. It begins with the globalization literature and then turns to various characterizations applied to small jurisdictions, including tax havens, offshore financial centers, microstates, and global cities. Finally, the chapter assesses the English legal origins of many such jurisdictions. Bruner concludes that none of these theoretical frameworks can accommodate the range of salient features exhibited by those small jurisdictions achieving global dominance in cross-border finance. Each, however, offers important insights contributing to the alternative framework developed in this book.
Randall Morck and Gloria Y. Tian
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198717973
- eISBN:
- 9780191787591
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198717973.003.0017
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History, International Business
Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the twentieth century, amid rapid catch-up industrialization, but largely gave way to widely held freestanding firms by ...
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Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the twentieth century, amid rapid catch-up industrialization, but largely gave way to widely held freestanding firms by mid-century. In the 1970s and early 1980s—an era of high inflation, financial reversal, unprecedented state intervention, and explicit emulation of continental European institutions—pyramidal groups abruptly regained prominence. The largest of these were politically well-connected and highly leveraged. The two largest collapsed in the early 1990s in a recession characterized by very high real interest rates. The smaller groups that survived were more vertically integrated and less diversified at the time. Widely held freestanding firms and Anglo-Saxon concepts of the role of the state soon regained predominance.Less
Family-controlled pyramidal business groups were important in Canada early in the twentieth century, amid rapid catch-up industrialization, but largely gave way to widely held freestanding firms by mid-century. In the 1970s and early 1980s—an era of high inflation, financial reversal, unprecedented state intervention, and explicit emulation of continental European institutions—pyramidal groups abruptly regained prominence. The largest of these were politically well-connected and highly leveraged. The two largest collapsed in the early 1990s in a recession characterized by very high real interest rates. The smaller groups that survived were more vertically integrated and less diversified at the time. Widely held freestanding firms and Anglo-Saxon concepts of the role of the state soon regained predominance.