Business systems and corporate governance

Abstract

This article has applied ideas from Richard Whitley's analysis of business systems to study ownership structures among the largest 100 companies in 12 European countries. The results indicate that there are significant nation/system effects that can be attributed at least partly to the institutional factors highlighted in Whitley's framework. On the other hand, the existence of significant economic effects are documented, which indicates that economic factors cutting across the nations as well as system effects shape the governance structures of the largest European companies.