1st Edition

The Globalization of Corporate Governance

By Alan Dignam, Michael Galanis Copyright 2009
    458 Pages
    by Routledge

    458 Pages
    by Routledge

    The process of economic globalization, as product and capital markets have become increasingly integrated since WWII, has placed huge, and it is argued by some, irresistible pressures on the world's 'insider' stakeholder oriented corporate governance systems. Insider corporate governance systems in countries such as Germany, so the argument goes, should converge or be transformed by global product and capital market pressures to the 'superior' shareholder oriented 'outsider' corporate governance model prevalent in the UK and the US. What these pressures from globalization are, how they manifest themselves, whether they are likely to cause such a convergence/transformation and whether these pressures will continue, lie at the heart of the exploration in this volume. The Globalization of Corporate Governance provides a detailed analysis of the evolution of the key corporate governance systems in the UK, the US and Germany from the perspective of the development of economic globalization. As such it is a valuable resource for those interested in how economic and legal reforms interact to produce change within corporate governance systems.

    Contents: Preface; Overview; Part I Theorizing Corporate Governance Change: Corporate governance convergence and corporate theory; Institutional analysis and corporate governance systems; Globalization and its impact on corporate governance systems; Theorizing the possibility of change in insider corporate governance systems: divergence or convergence? Part II Observing Change and Transformation in the UK, US and Germany: The insider corporate governance systems in the UK and US: from colony to Cold War; The emergence of outsider corporate governance systems in the UK and US: from the end of the golden age to globalization; The traditional German corporate governance model; Economic globalization and the German insider corporate governance model; The end of globalization?; Index.

    Biography

    Alan Dignam, School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London, UK and Michael Galanis, School of Law, University of Leeds, UK

    'This is a timely and important comparative analysis, published at a critical time, of the evolution of corporate governance structures as between the US/UK on the one hand ("outsider systems") and Germany on the other (an "insider system"). It seeks to answer the question whether globalisation will lead to the dominance of the outsider model and persuasively suggests that it will not. It should be read by interested academics and policymakers worldwide.' John Birds, University of Manchester, UK 'A timely and prescient analysis of the impact of globalization on corporate governance. Written by lawyers, but drawing widely on the scholarship of other disciplines, the resulting insights provide persuasive challenges to the prevailing orthodoxies. A central reference point for scholars of corporate governance from all disciplines and jurisdictions.' Eva Lomnicka, King's College London, UK